Apple co-founder Steve Jobs leaves legacy in Cherokee language

The Cherokee Nation lowered its flags to half mast Oct. 6 in honor of Apple Inc. co-founder Steve Jobs, 56, who died Oct. 5 in California after a long battle with cancer. For the Cherokee Nation, its work with Apple has resulted in the adaptation of the Cherokee language to modern technology and renewed hope that the language will not only survive, but thrive. In 2003, Apple began supporting the Cherokee language by including a font and keyboard in the company’s computer operating system. 'Anything a person can do in English can be done in Cherokee in part because of [Steve Jobs'] innovations and his support of [the] language', CN Language Technologist Joseph Erb said.

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In the World: Murmurs of Mayan

Along with its stunningly accurate calendar and majestic pyramidal architecture, the Mayan civilization deserves recognition for another unique feature: its language. Mayan languages are a rich source of data for linguists aiming to develop a universal theory of language, but like many of the world’s tongues, their speakers are steadily dwindling in number. MIT undergraduate John Berman spent the past summer in a remote village in Mexico studying Chol — a Mayan language spoken in the southern state of Chiapas — in the hopes of capturing some important features of its grammar and vocabulary. Chol has several elements that differentiate it from English and other well-documented languages, including its manner of expressing possession and the structure of its nouns and verbs.

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Africa pushes for indigenous language in continet's development

Emphasising the need to take knowledge back to people, the Conference on African Renaissance, Integration, Unity and Development ended in Pretoria last Friday with a call to empower the people and promote an increased use of African languages in all spheres of national, regional and continental development. The two-day conference discussed at length how to use African languages and the meaning of language as an identity of the people's repository of knowledge.

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