UAE report on Indian languages

The National, a newspaper of the United Arab Emirates, today ran an article on saving languages in India. Titled “Project tries to save India’s linguistic treasures,” the article notes that of 1,635 tongues spoke in India, 53 are listed by the Endangered Languages project and 197 are classified as between endangered and vulnerable by UNESCO.

The article provides an overview of some of the organizations working to maintain and document languages. Specific languages mentioned include:

• Ashing, a dialect of Adi (adi),
• Anal or Namfau (anm),
• Jad (jda),
• Jarawa (anq),
• Kota (kfe),
• Onge (oon), written also as Öñge or Önge,
• Sentinel (std), and
• Tai Rong or Turung (try), listed as extinct on Wikipedia and the Ethnologue, but said in the article to have 100 speakers.

The content of “Hindi-English-Great Andamanese dictionary” mentioned in the article can be searched on the dictionary page of VOGA: Vanishing Voices of the Great Andamanese.

Of the seven non-immigrant languages listed in the Ethnologue for the UAE, none are endangered.

Texting and rapping in endangered languages

According to “Hip-hop, texting may help save world’s languages” on the Miami Herald website, teenagers who love to send text messages by mobile phone are doing so in endangered languages, giving renewed hope for revitalization. Languages cited include:

• Kapampangan (pam) in the Philippines,
• Huave in Mexico:

• San Francisco del Mar Huave (hue)
• San Mateo del Mar Huave (huv)
• San Dionisio del Mar Huave (hve)
• Santa María del Mar Huave (hvv)

• Chulym (clw) in Central Siberia

In addition, hip-hop music has become a vehicle for expression in endangered languages, including:

• Huilliche (huh) in Chile and
• Hruso-Aka or Hruso (hru) in India.

See “Huilliche hip-hop song 1” and “hip-hop in Aka – Songe Nimasow” on the Enduring Voices channel of YouTube for two rap songs.