Archaeologists discover lost language

Evidence for a forgotten ancient language which dates back more than 2,500 years, to the time of the Assyrian Empire, has been found by archaeologists working in Turkey. Researchers working at Ziyaret Tepe, the probable site of the ancient Assyrian city of Tušhan, believe that the language may have been spoken by deportees originally from the Zagros Mountains, on the border of modern-day Iran and Iraq. The evidence for the language they spoke comes from a single clay tablet, which was preserved after it was baked in a fire that destroyed the palace in Tušhan at some point around the end of the 8th century BCE. Inscribed with cuneiform characters, the tablet is essentially a list of the names of women who were attached to the palace and the local Assyrian administration. To continue reading this article, click here

Keeping Indigenous Languages Alive

The Fort Mojave Language Recovery Program is documenting and rebuilding the Mojave bird song cycle in a partnership between the Fort Mojave Indian Tribe along the Colorado River and Arizona State University’s Center for Indian Education.
Part of the program is dedicated to retaining the Mojave bird songs, which are traditionally songs of celebration. The songs are also part of a larger oral tradition that communicates values and carry lessons of cultural importance to Mojave people, says Teresa McCarty, co-director of the CIE and professor in the School of Social Transformation. One aim of the grant is to document and rebuild the song cycle, which has become less defined with the erosion of the Mojave language. Along with the cultural significance the songs hold, they also contain unique aspects of the Mojave language.


You can read the full article here

Using social media to capture an endangered language

Professor Margaret Noori of Michigan University has created an online community that is capturing, what would otherwise be, a dying language. It’s an innovative way of preserving a language so that ancient sounds are not lost and can be instantly connected with others willing to hear and learn.

The language is that of Ojibwe, Michigan’s indigenous population. As the population who knows this language is continually ageing, it is essential to ‘produce proficiency in the next generation and archive the contributions of fluent elders’. As a result it is the responsibility of the younger generations to learn from older generations. This is why social media is being implemented.

Social media is being used as a linguistic preservation tool, a platform that is very familiar to the young age group. The community is currently using Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and Youtube that will encourage sharing and interaction. So far there are around 450 audio files, songs, lessons and stories to facilitate learning.

This is an example of a new revelation for social media, being used to preserve an endangered language.

This article downloaded from here

Dual Language Booklet for Native Alaskans Published for First Time

Partnering with a local Alaskan native community, the U.S. Forest Service has for the first time published a dual language booklet in English and a native Alaskan language, Yup’ik, to help educate the greater community in Southwestern Alaska on invasive species.

Titled “Protecting Southwestern Alaska from Invasive Species – A Guide in the English and Yup’ik languages,” the Forest Service’s Alaska Region and the Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies aim to explain invasive species concerns unique to Southwestern Alaska, which is home to a large community of the indigenous Yup’ik people. The title of the booklet translated into Yup’ik is, “Kellutellra Alaskam Ungalaqlirnera Eniaritulinun Itrallerkaaneng – Maaryartekaq Kassat Yup’iit-llu Qaneryaraigtun.”

Protecting Southwestern Alaska from invasive species has proven challenging, not only due to its vast and varied range of landscapes, but also due to difficulties in communication with native Alaskans. About 120 communities, including over 25,000 Yup’ik people, are scattered across this region, and its residents largely use their native languages as their primary means of communication and also continue to follow traditional cultures that are married to the natural environment.

As native Alaskan community members follow subsistence lifestyles and thus depend on natural resources, they are more susceptible to the impacts of the introduction of invasive species. The partnership between the Forest Service and the Center for Alaska Coastal Studies to publish the booklet seeks to increase education and awareness among local residents to ultimately prevent invasive species from being introduced to local Southwestern Alaskan ecosystems.

Report accessed from here

Multiple meanings and why we have them

Why did language evolve? While the answer might seem obvious -- as a way for individuals to exchange information -- linguists and other students of communication have debated this question for years. Many prominent linguists, including MIT’s Noam Chomsky, have argued that language is, in fact, poorly designed for communication. Such a use, they say, is merely a byproduct of a system that probably evolved for other reasons -- perhaps for structuring our own private thoughts. As evidence, these linguists point to the existence of ambiguity: In a system optimized for conveying information between a speaker and a listener, they argue, each word would have just one meaning, eliminating any chance of confusion or misunderstanding. Now, a group of MIT cognitive scientists has turned this idea on its head. In a new theory, they claim that ambiguity actually makes language more efficient, by allowing for the reuse of short, efficient sounds that listeners can easily disambiguate with the help of context.

To read the rest of this interesting take on why our words may have multiple meanings, click here

Tom and Jerry now in Tibetan Language

American cartoon series Tom and Jerry is among 1,500 hours of English and Chinese TV programmes translated into Tibetan language and on show daily through a local cable channel in Tibetan capital Lhasa, a top official said. Tenzin, a six-year-old first-grade student in Lhasa believes the US-born cat and mouse can actually speak Tibetan. "It makes me laugh to see the cat make a fool of itself every time," said Tenzin. All urban residents living in Tibet's cities have access to at least three wireless TV channels and 30 cable TV channels, while about 70 percent of the rural population can receive satellite TV and radio signals, Xinhua reported.

To read the whole article, click here

Census finds fewer than a half-million Native American language speakers; majority Navajo

More people speak Navajo at home than any other Native American language, a seemingly promising 169,000 people at a time when some tribes have lost their native tongue or are struggling to retain the words of their ancestors. Evangeline Parsons Yazzie, a Navajo professor at Northern Arizona University, said the figure recently released by the U.S. Census Bureau is no surprise, but can be misleading. The country’s population of Navajos is well over 300,000. For every one who speaks the language, one doesn’t — and those are likely younger Navajos, Yazzie said.The loss of Native languages is rooted in a history that includes the federal government’s attempt to eradicate Native American culture by sending children to boarding schools and punishing them for speaking their language. “That’s one thing all Indian nations suffer from,” Yazzie said. “Youth are ashamed of that because it caused a lot of harm. They internalized it. ... Now we’re trying to turn that around and say, ‘The languages are beautiful.’”

Click here to read the full article