Fw: language

[ROOD DAVID S]

Just a bit of caution about this article.  The reporter is herself 
Wichita, though of course not a speaker, and she did indeed interview me. 
I asked her if I could see the article before it was published but she 
said that was against newspaper policy, so, of course, I am somewhat 
misquoted.  My cliched description of language knowledge doesn't have 
anything to do with "how" one talks. What I like to say is "You don't know 
a language until you can say things that you have never heard anyone else 
say."  Other than that, I think her portrayal of Doris is very sensitive 
and accurate, and I'm pleased to see Doris getting the kind of recognition 
she deserves.

I have no idea where those lists of languages at the end came from, but I 
agree with Willem that one should be careful about citing it.


David S. Rood
Dept. of Linguistics
Univ. of Colorado
295 UCB
Boulder, CO 80309-0295
USA
rood at colorado.edu

On Tue, 27 Nov 2007, willemdereuse at unt.edu wrote:

> Interesting article. Thank you Jimm. I hope David Rood comments as well.
>
> Caution about the lists of Oklahoma languages at the end.  Concerning 
> Chiricahua Apache, among others.  I have it from a reliable source that there 
> are no fluent speakers of Chiricahua in Oklahoma. (There might well be more 
> than 10 fluent speakers of Chiricahua on the Mescalero Reservation in New 
> Mexico.)
>
> Quoting Jimm GoodTracks <goodtracks at peoplepc.com>:
>
>> 
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: Pat Benabe
>> To: Jimm Goodtracks
>> Sent: Tuesday, November 27, 2007 8:56 AM
>> Subject: language
>> 
>> 
>> http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?articleID=071126_1_A1_ahref1651
>> 8
>> 
>> Tribal language fading away
>> 
>> by: SE RUCKMAN, World Staff Writer
>> 11/26/2007 1:37 AM
>> 
>> Doris Jean Lamar is the last fluent speaker of the Wichita and Affiliated
>> Tribes.
>> 
>> (...)>
>> *****
>> 
>> Fluent, but for how long?
>> 
>> Indian languages with fewer than five fluent speakers:
>> 
>> Chirachua Apache
>> Osage
>> Otoe
>> Ottawa
>> Plains Apache
>> Quapaw
>> Wichita
>> 
>> Indian languages with zero remaining fluent speakers:
>> 
>> Alabama
>> Cayuga
>> Delaware (Lenape)
>> Hitchiti, Mikasuki
>> Kaw (Kansa)
>> Kitsai
>> Koasati
>> Mesquakie (Fox)
>> Miami, Peoria
>> Modoc
>> Natchez
>> Seneca
>> Tonkawa
>> Wyandotte
>> 
>
>