Lecture on Dying Languages Heard by Andrea

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I copied and pasted the following. They are notes from one person in our group who attended a lecture about the dying languages in the world. ***

Yesterday when I was working at the school in the afternoon, I was invited
to see a film that Dr. Elliot from Texas was showing about two linguists'
searches and efforts to document dying languages. One was from Bolivia. If
you are interested, below are some notes I put together. There is also a
website where you can read about Dr. Elliot's continuing research with the
Indians of Oaxaca that speak Triqui.

July 19th, 2010
An accidental class on linguists and dying languages
When I was studying alone at the school yesterday afternoon, some
people came in to see a movie with Dr. Raymond Elliot called The Linguists.
I was invited to join the small group.
There are 7000 languages in the world, and many of them are dying
because they are tribal and have been suppressed by the government
(Siberia, Indian, US). Many times children learn the language, but then
when they go to school, they are not allowed to speak it, and then feel
shame that they do. Thus they lose the language themselves.
The film is a documentary about two US linguists who travel to
remote places to document languages before the last elderly speakers die.
Here are my notes on the film:
Kallawaya is an endangered language of Bolivia and used in
traditional healing ceremonies. Many experts felt that it was totally dead.
The two linguists travel to a village on Lake Titicaca. After many false
starts, they meet Max a healer. He does a small ceremony for them reading
the patterns of cast cocoa leaves. Later he does a complete healing ritual
using llama fat, llama wool, cocoa leaves, a llama fetus, mumbled chants in
Kallawaya, rodent sacrifice, fire and smoke. The language is guarded
because it is used for ritual. Unlike most languages that people hear and
learn from birth to age 7 by hearing it, this language is passed on from a
male adult to a male teenager for use in rituals. The film speculated that
this is how Kallawaya has survived, because it is used for their livelihood.
Why do people abandon their languages? Some feel it is no longer
useful. Others perceive that it will not lead to economic gain. Children
in India are taken from their tribal homes and languages to go to big
boarding schools where they are trained in English, learn about Hindu
religion, and leave their culture behind in order to have more economic
opportunities.
In Siberia the linguists traveled distant villages to find elders
who still spoke a tribal language called Chulym. Some research and
documentation had been done on this language in the 70's, but none since.
Since the Russians had regarded it at a gutter language, many young were
ashamed to speak it, and not allowed to in school. It is a very distinct
language. One whole sentence can be made into 1 word. Linguists do not
know of another language that does this. Language is always lineal with
sentences made of phrases. They can say a whole sentence like, "Yesterday
we went moose hunting in the forest," as one word. One older man expressed
his anger at having Chulym suppressed, "Let the Russians speak Russian, let
the Chuylmans speak Chuylm." It is not a written language.

One Native American from Arizona, in his 50's is the last speaker of
his language. He says he talks to himself in his native language all the
time so he won't lose it. Since he was raised by his grandmother he learned
the language.

Discussion- Dr. Raymond Elliot
Their group will spend a week in a small village in Oaxaca studying
the language Triqui. It is a tonal language, so a word spelled the same can
have three meanings depending on the subtle tone. It is not a written
language.
He said it is much easier to get into areas to study indigenous
languages here in Mexico than in the USA. In Mexico all you need is some
personal connection where in the USA there are a lot of regulations.
Professor Elliot has been working on this project for some time.
Last year when he came, he created a book with the community and is
returning with published copies. This is part of an effort to help the
young see how important their language is. To see pictures, hear the
language, go to http://triquichicahuaxtla.wordpress.com/. At the top of the
page there are links, so be sure to go to the book call The Sacred Goddess
of the Mountain. There is also a link so to hear the language.

Andrea

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