Vanishing Voices

“ak byzaa”

Wonderful article in the current issue of National Geographic Magazine (how can the magazine be so good and the TV channel so bad?) on endangered languages.  Great examples of vocabulary from sample languages showing the connection between culture and language.  In Tuvan (famous for its throat singers, spoken in Tuva, Russia), for example, the word for future (songgaar) is literally to go back, while the word for the past (burungaar) is to go forward, pointing to the Tuvan belief that the past is ahead and the future behind.  Demonstrating the importance of herded animals in Tuvan culture, there is a word, ak byzaa for a “white calf, less than one year old”, while the term of endearment for a baby is anayim = my little goat. Segments as well on the Aka lanugage of India and the Seri language of Mexico.  Great pictures (as one would expect) and portraits of last speakers of a variety of languages – very sad.

6 thoughts on “Vanishing Voices

  1. I spent a few months looking for relevant opinions on this issue,
    and this one works! I am sure your reasons to ask for aid
    were comparable to mine. The hardest year in uni has been my third season. Oh guy, I still remember these
    difficult times, this workload along with those sleepless nights!
    Thankfully to my roommate, who advised me to look for additional assistance at https://essayhub.com, those men appeared real professionals.
    I ordered some experiments, and they were
    completed at TWO DAYS! Still can’t know how
    did they do this, however I received 98 POINTS for each!!!

  2. Cool Astro is a great resource for anyone who is interested in learning more about astrology, numerology, and other related topics. The website features articles, blog posts, and videos that are written in a clear and easy-to-understand way. Cool Astro also offers a variety of free tools and resources, such as horoscopes, birth charts, and numerology calculators.
    https://www.coolastro.com/

  3. For many international students, language barriers and unfamiliarity with academic norms often pose challenges in their writing. In such a context, academic paper assignment ghostwriting services https://www.lunwenhelp.com/ have emerged to provide effective academic support and assistance to a vast number of international students.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *