It’s not uncommon for linguists to discuss the importance of
preserving endangered languages. Language is the vehicle in which a diverse and
tremendous amount of human knowledge is transferred. Allowing languages to
die without documenting them is like watching a massive library burn down right in front of our eyes
while we're hand folded.
The beauty of language, however, is that it is dynamic. If
one dies, others keep adapting and changing. People borrow and coin new words
depending on their needs. But who would have thought that we’d witness the
birth of a completely new language in the second half of the twentieth century?
Well that’s exactly what happened in a tiny Australian village. Carmel O'Shannessy, a linguist
from the University of Michigan has been studying this relatively newly born
language since the early 2000s.
In this remote aboriginal Australian village, the younger
generation has developed a language of its own! According to the news, this
new language called Walpiri rampaku (or light Warlpiri) is only spoken by people under 35. O'Shannessy even suggests that in a few years this new
language might threaten the survival of strong Warlpiri (which is the language
spoken by the older generation in the village).
A new language born in the 1970s? Who would have imagined!
