Tag archives for languages
Japan is home to a dozen ancient languages at risk of disappearing forever. A new translation of K. David Harrison’s “The Last Speakers” could help tip the scales in their favor.
Ash “Wednesday,” “Lent,” and “February”: Surprising Word Origins
Posted by Andrew Howley of NG Staff on February 12, 2013 
This week, Christians around the world will mark the beginning of Lent. But what does that word even mean? Or, for that matter, where in the world did we get “February”?
The Enduring Voices team reports back on the Xyzyl (pronounced “hizzle”) language from the Republic of Xakasia northwest of Mongolia.
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Comprehensive analysis of Basque genetic patterns has found that Basque genetic uniqueness predates the arrival of agriculture in the Iberian Peninsula some 7,000 years ago, the Genographic Project announced today. “Through detailed DNA analysis of samples from the French and Spanish Basque regions, the Genographic team found that Basques share unique genetic patterns that distinguish them from…
In this video interview at the Seventh International Congress of Arctic Social Sciences (ICASS VII), held recently in Iceland, Sven Haakanson, executive director of the Alutiiq Museum, talks about how 7,500 years of history, language, and arts are being “repatriated” to Kodiak’s indigenous people.
Linguists Discuss ‘Hidden’ Koro Language, Search for Last Speakers
Posted by Ford Cochran on October 6, 2010 Linguists working in India’s remote Arunachal Pradesh state have uncovered the hidden Koro language, which was previously undocumented and unknown to science. In an exclusive interview, they describe Koro’s survival, the Enduring Voices Project’s search for last speakers, and their efforts to promote humanity’s threatened linguistic diversity. By Ford Cochran Yesterday, linguists and National Geographic…
One More Endangered Language Falls Silent
Posted by Ford Cochran on February 19, 2010 News of the death of Boa Sr in India’s Andaman Islands—and with her the Bo language, of which Boa was the last known speaker—has focused media attention on humanity’s fast-vanishing endangered languages. The loss comes on the eve of the tenth anniversary of UNESCO’s International Mother Language Day this Sunday. “We imagine eureka moments taking…
Conservation in the 21st Century
Posted by Ford Cochran on June 18, 2009 More memorable moments from the 2009 Explorers Symposium: Linguists David Harrison and Greg Anderson discuss their work on the Enduring Voices project. “We’ve been out taking the pulse of some of the world’s smallest and most endangered languages,” says Harrison. “I love to think of our work as a kind of time travel. We get…
