Song about alligator helping women reconstruct dead language (fwd link)

[Phil Cash Cash]

*Song about alligator helping women reconstruct dead language*

KYLE PEVETO| KPEVETO at THEADVOCATE.COM
Aug. 24, 2014
​
USA​


In a dead language on a tape 40 years old, Elvira Billiot sings a
children’s song about an alligator.

Last year, a great-granddaughter Elvira Billiot never met heard
“Chan-Chuba” for the first time and felt an immediate connection to the
ghostly voice and her people.

“When we played it, it was like we were unlocking a trunk that had been
locked up and covered in dust,” said Colleen Billiot.

The alligator song could help resurrect the Houma language that has not
been spoken for a century. Colleen Billiot and another Houma descendant,
Hali Dardar, also 25, have spent the past year trying to translate the
lyrics to “Chan-Chuba” in hopes that they can translate that one song as a
first step in reconstructing the language.

“It’s this tiny connection to your ancestors that you haven’t had in 100
years where you were able to speak,” Dardar said. “Just having that bond is
pretty cool and pretty strong.”

Access full article below:
http://theadvocate.com/home/9967214-171/song-about-alligator-helping-women
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ilat/attachments/20140825/71092a39/attachment.htm>