New Language Identified in Remote Corner of India; One of Thousands of Endangered Tongues Around World
The language, known as Koro, belongs to the Tibeto-Burman language family, a group of some 400 languages that includes Tibetan and Burmese, the linguists said. Although some 150 Tibeto-Burman languages are spoken in India alone, the expedition team has been unable to identify any language closely related to Koro, so distinct is it from the others in the family.
The expedition was part of National Geographic's Enduring Voices project, led by National Geographic Fellows Gregory Anderson and K. David Harrison. Before the expedition, the team had targeted the remote Arunachal Pradesh state in northeastern India as one of its "Language Hotspots" -- a place on the world map that hosts a rich diversity of languages, many unwritten, that are little studied or documented...
Languages are dying around the world; one blinks out about every two weeks. Linguists consider about half of the world's nearly 7,000 tongues are endangered, the victims of cultural changes, ethnic shame, government repression and other factors.
National Geographic's Enduring Voices project works to identify language hotspots, document vanishing languages and cultures, and assist with language revitalization. Harrison, an associate professor of linguistics at Swarthmore College, and Anderson, director of the Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languages, work with National Geographic Fellow and photographer Chris Rainier on the effort.
What is the value to the speakers of identifying the world's "hidden" languages? "Part of the uniqueness of very small languages is that their speakers may feel a sense of ownership over them," Harrison writes in "The Last Speakers." "In the case of Koro, even though they seem to be gradually giving up their language, it remains the most powerful trait that identifies them as a distinct people. Without it, they are merely part of a larger group within India's population of a billion-plus."
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