Last speaker of ancient language of Bo dies

[lkozma]

Just like with biological species, the moment when the last (or even last few members) die is just a symbolic event, most of the diversity is lost much earlier. (It is a small subset of language/folklore/traditions/etc. one person can keep in their head, just as one individual carries just a small part of the genetic diversity of the species).

[Herring]

Diversity in languages is more like diversity in open source licenses. The fewer the better. I like being able to exchange ideas with people.

[Semiapies]

"Languages in the Andamans are thought to originate from Africa. Some may be 70,000 years old."

Wow - I wouldn't mind a linguist vetting that claim. How would we even know that a language hasn't evolved enough to become an entirely different language in over ten times the length of recorded human history?

[crux]

That claim is utterly bogus. There's no indication that the languages have anything in particular to do with Africa, and indeed, no evidence that the language has 'evolved' more or less than any other. There is nothing unique to Andamanese languages to support the rapidly multiplying claims that they're 'ancient' or 'neolithic'. They're just isolated.

[msg]

There have been some attempts to study language drift over time and geography. The proponent that springs to mind is Joseph Greenberg. His work is an attempt to work backwards to the common core of language, the starting place.

If you knew approximately how fast language changed, and you saw two related languages, you would know when they drifted apart. There are also linguistic isolates like Basque where you can't really play this trick.

[javery]

This article doesn't mention any efforts that might have taken place to preserve the language, did they record her speaking it? Did she try to teach anyone else the language? etc.

[derwiki]

I thought the same thing -- if this is such a big deal, did they try to preserve the language by having someone else learn it? I would have liked it if they at least commented on this; maybe there's a good reason they weren't able to.

[rimantas]

Shouldn't that be an event when second to the last speaker dies? The one left has no one to talk to anyway :(

[tel]

One could still teach someone new.

[jonknee]

Very true--she could have been making it up. Who's to say you don't know the language when no one else does?

[arethuza]

Look on the bright side, one day the last person who likes VB6 will die too.

[yannis]

And Pascal will go down with me:) I loved that language. Now and then I will code Pascal for fun.

[mhansen]

Then what will happen to our banking system?

[sree_nair]

and then the last person browsing on IE6.

[sparky]

Am I the only one who read that as "ancient language of Bodies?"

[tman]

The picture with the subtitle "Professor Abbi and Boa Sr became firm friends" is rather striking evidence of the diversity of human types present in that area of the world.

Some Google searching brings up an article with a descriptions of mitochondrial sequencing done on the Andamanese. Apparently they are of African pygmoid descent.

It's a rather good object lesson -- if you want to be a professor (the one on the right), don't let your ancestors get trapped in a genetic backwater for tens of thousands of years, missing out on all those good brain gene selection events.

EDIT: Not pygmoid after all. The pygmoid features are the product of convergent evolution. The evolutionary trend towards small stature seems to be due to resource competition from living on an island with barely enough space to support human habitation. It looks like they came through southern Asia.

[simon_]

Don't you think it's a little premature to conclude that the quality of her brain (and not, say, geography) accounts for the difference?

[capablanca]

He was too lonely.

[crux]

It was a woman.

[regularfry]

Does that mean that she was the face of Bo?

I'll get my coat.