Friday, February 5, 2010
History One of the Oldest Languages Died with the Death of an Old Woman
Posted by Charles Mudede on Fri, Feb 5, 2010 at 8:10 AM
70,000 years worth of words, and the emotions contained by those words, came down to just one body:
The last speaker of an ancient language in India's Andaman Islands has died at the age of about 85, a leading linguist has told the BBC.English is not immortal. One day it will have its last speaker.Professor Anvita Abbi said that the death of Boa Sr was highly significant because one of the world's oldest languages - Bo - had come to an end.
Languages in the Andamans are thought to originate from Africa. Some may be 70,000 years old.
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3
I guarantee you that the language she spoke was unrecognizable to those that spoke it 70,000 years ago. Languages merge, split and evolve. Whoever the last English speaker is, it is unlikely that you or I would be able to converse with her.
Besides, a language dies with its second to last speaker IMHO.
Besides, a language dies with its second to last speaker IMHO.
4
Yep, languages die. Or evolve into something that would be unrecognizable to the original user (have you tried reading Beowulf lately?) Big whoop.
7
Charles,
I agree. Some languages are indeed mortal. But, I also think some languages are less mortal in that they evolve. Latin at one time was the lingua franca of the known Occidental World. It evolved into the 5 Romance languages we know today as Spanish, French, Portugese, Italian and Romanian (I think?). It is hardly spoken today save for some clergy and academics. But, it does endure in another format.
I agree. Some languages are indeed mortal. But, I also think some languages are less mortal in that they evolve. Latin at one time was the lingua franca of the known Occidental World. It evolved into the 5 Romance languages we know today as Spanish, French, Portugese, Italian and Romanian (I think?). It is hardly spoken today save for some clergy and academics. But, it does endure in another format.
8
@3 Only if the last speaker cannot speak another language. It's entirely possible that she could have written down the translation or taught it to another linguist to perpetuate it... but if no one can understand her, it's a moot point.
9
Still, language is an intellectual construct in the same way that a living organism is a biological construct. It's the least we can do to feel a momentary pang of regret. J. Craig Venter and his test-tube manipulations (at least those to date) notwithstanding, living organisms cannot be captured or recreated by outside agency at will, either. The death of the last passenger pigeon was not, strictly speaking, the death of the species--that took place at some earlier ill-defined point, with the loss of a viable breeding population and the genetic diversity it represented. Nevertheless, society took note of the passing of Martha.
10
You can't really say that language X is of a certain age; all languages change over time in a continuum. It's not like Nostratic one day became Indo-European which one day became Proto-Germanic which one day became Anglo-Saxon which one day became Middle English which one day became modern English. Small changes build up over time, and they borrow words and features from other languages over time, too.
In reality, all human languages are part of a continuum that goes back tens of thousands of years at least, and it is more than a little misleading (and naive) to say a certain language is "older" than another.
In reality, all human languages are part of a continuum that goes back tens of thousands of years at least, and it is more than a little misleading (and naive) to say a certain language is "older" than another.
11
To the excellent points made by Danger @3, rob! @9, and Simac @10, I would only add that this is second time we've seen the Face of Bo pass away.
12
It is not the strongest of the languages that survives, Charles, but one that is most adaptable to change.
14
@13
I prefer Charles's stories about classmates shooting pubic hairs at teachers in Zimbabwe personally.
I prefer Charles's stories about classmates shooting pubic hairs at teachers in Zimbabwe personally.
15
@12
English doesn't borrow from other languages. English follows other languages down dark alleys, knocks them unconscious, and rifles through their pockets for bits of loose grammar.
English doesn't borrow from other languages. English follows other languages down dark alleys, knocks them unconscious, and rifles through their pockets for bits of loose grammar.
17
A good article by Barbara Wallraff in the Atlantic about English as a global language -- basically, it's already forking pretty significantly.
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