Nicholas Wade's NY Times piece, "In Click Languages, an Echo of the Tongues of the Ancients," is reprinted in "The Best Science and Nature Writing - 2004," edited by Steven Pinker. It's too brief, but worth reading.
-Joel > Rebirth of language > > By SIMON BEVILACQUA > 19jun05 > http://www.themercury.news.com.au/common/story_page/ > 0,5936,15658081%255E3462,00.html > > NEW life has been breathed into the Tasmanian Aboriginal language. > > After more than five years' research and analysis, the Tasmanian > Aboriginal Centre has given the Tasmanian community a glimpse of its > language, known as palawa kani. > > The language has been used on interpretation boards on the summit of Mt > Wellington, or kunanyi as the mountain is known to Aborigines. > > One panel states, "milaythina nika milaythina-mana" -- "This land is our > country". > > In the late 1990s, the TAC embarked on a bold attempt to rejuvenate an > Aboriginal language. > > Researchers scanned historical references, including journals of the > d'Entrecasteaux expedition. > > There were thought to be a dozen or more Aboriginal languages in > Tasmania and even more dialects. The language program has produced an > amalgam of the languages. > > There are no capital letters in the language. > > TAC spokeswoman Trudy Maluga said the Aboriginal community decided to > release parts of the new language only when it benefitted the > Aboriginal community. > > "We have taken ownership of our language," Ms Maluga said. > > "This is a way of beating assimilation." > > Ms Maluga said many within the Aboriginal community could speak palawa > kani fluently. > > Many Tasmanian towns feature Aboriginal names including Murdunna, > Taroona, Teepookana and Nubeena. >
