Last native speaker of Klallam language dies in Washington state

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LilianNekipelov
LilianNekipelov  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 09:39
Russian to English
+ ...
That's really sad Feb 8, 2014

but why didn't some tribe members learn it form her? There may actually be some people who speak it to some extent. A lot is being done these days to preserve the Native American languages.

Well-- the language did not die-- it was preserved--a dictionary was published and some of the members of the tribe speak it. It is also taught in school. so it is not like the langauge has died. I don't know what they meant "by the last native speaker of X"-- there are other tribe members who
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but why didn't some tribe members learn it form her? There may actually be some people who speak it to some extent. A lot is being done these days to preserve the Native American languages.

Well-- the language did not die-- it was preserved--a dictionary was published and some of the members of the tribe speak it. It is also taught in school. so it is not like the langauge has died. I don't know what they meant "by the last native speaker of X"-- there are other tribe members who speak the language. This information has been phrased in a slightly awkward way. Some missing elements of the language can also be easily reconstructed. There is a lot of material available.

[Edited at 2014-02-08 14:35 GMT]
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Miguel Carmona
Miguel Carmona  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 06:39
English to Spanish
A similar situation Feb 8, 2014

There is a similar situation in Mexico.

The only two speakers left of an indigenous language are brothers who are not young any more, but due to differences between them they have not spoken to each other for years.

Different government agencies have intervened in an effort to reconcile them, unsuccessfully so far.

In the meantime, cultural anthropologists and linguists afraid that the language will die soon keep recording both brothers.

I read
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There is a similar situation in Mexico.

The only two speakers left of an indigenous language are brothers who are not young any more, but due to differences between them they have not spoken to each other for years.

Different government agencies have intervened in an effort to reconcile them, unsuccessfully so far.

In the meantime, cultural anthropologists and linguists afraid that the language will die soon keep recording both brothers.

I read this some time ago, I do not know whether things have changed.
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Miguel Carmona
Miguel Carmona  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 06:39
English to Spanish
Extinct and dead languages Feb 9, 2014

From Wikipedia:

Normally the transition from a spoken to an extinct language occurs when a language undergoes language death while being directly replaced by a different one. For example, some Native American languages were replaced by English, French, Portuguese, Spanish, or Dutch as a result of colonization.

By contrast to an extinct language which no longer has any speakers, a dead language may remain in use for scientific, legal, or ecclesiastical functions. Old
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From Wikipedia:

Normally the transition from a spoken to an extinct language occurs when a language undergoes language death while being directly replaced by a different one. For example, some Native American languages were replaced by English, French, Portuguese, Spanish, or Dutch as a result of colonization.

By contrast to an extinct language which no longer has any speakers, a dead language may remain in use for scientific, legal, or ecclesiastical functions. Old Church Slavonic, Avestan, Coptic, Biblical Hebrew, New Testament Greek, Ge'ez, Ardhamagadhi, Pali, Sanskrit and Latin are among the many dead languages used as sacred languages. Courses and active teaching still exist for these, as well as Egyptian Hieroglyphs and Maya script.


For the entire Wikipedia article, visit:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extinct_language
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LilianNekipelov
LilianNekipelov  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 09:39
Russian to English
+ ...
In my personal view, languages never die Feb 9, 2014

although they may become extinct--in some sense--no longer used as a dominant language. Where the language in question should be considered extinct or not depends on how well and in what situations the remaining members of the tribe speak it. Is it a language close to their heart that they use as often as possible--in everyday situations --automatically, sort of, or is their competence really limited and the language is just spoken on a sporadic basis-- like someone would use some basic second l... See more
although they may become extinct--in some sense--no longer used as a dominant language. Where the language in question should be considered extinct or not depends on how well and in what situations the remaining members of the tribe speak it. Is it a language close to their heart that they use as often as possible--in everyday situations --automatically, sort of, or is their competence really limited and the language is just spoken on a sporadic basis-- like someone would use some basic second language.Collapse


 


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Last native speaker of Klallam language dies in Washington state







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