{"id":2825,"date":"2024-08-08T11:09:26","date_gmt":"2024-08-08T11:09:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.amazinggstory.fun\/?p=2825"},"modified":"2024-08-08T11:09:26","modified_gmt":"2024-08-08T11:09:26","slug":"the-most-endangered-language-has-just-one-living-speaker-and-shes-trying-to-save-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.amazinggstory.fun\/?p=2825","title":{"rendered":"The Most Endangered Language Has Just One Living Speaker, And She\u2019s Trying to Save It"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ninety-one-year-old Katrina Esau is the last known speaker of N|uu. Years of colonialism and apartheid had almost wiped out this indigenous South African language. As a young girl, Katrina was told to be ashamed of her native tongue and instead speak Afrikaans. But as an adult, Esau set out to preserve N|uu by founding a school in her hometown Upington and creating a N|uu dictionary.<\/p>\n

Protecting an Endangered Language<\/p>\n

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Despite having two living sisters, Esau has no one to speak her language with, aside from the family members and children she had taught a few phrases. \u201cI miss speaking to someone,\u201d she said. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t feel good. You talk, you walk, you know \u2026 you miss someone who can just sit with you and speak N|uu with you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her granddaughter, language activist Claudia Snyman, has joined Esau\u2019s campaign to bring back N|uu. They had worked together to open a school to teach the language but it was vandalized during the pandemic, which greatly hurt their progress. \u201cThe language isn\u2019t where it\u2019s supposed to be yet. If Ouma [grandmother] dies, then everything dies,\u201d said Snyman in 2023. Her dream is to protect her grandmother\u2019s legacy. \u201cI\u2019ll do anything in my power to help her to prevent this language from dying.\u201d<\/p>\n

The History of N|uu<\/p>\n

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N|uu is a click language dating back to the \u01c2Khomani people from the southern Kalahari who lived in Southern Africa before the arrival of European colonizers. They are a part of the San people who were one of the earliest known hunter-gatherers in that area. During the British occupation in the 19th century, the people were stripped of their ethnic and cultural identity, including their language. In fact, people were mocked, beaten, and even murdered for using N|uu. This endangered the language, almost erasing it completely.<\/p>\n

Although N|uu has evolved with time, like any other language, it retains great significance from a history and culture that has almost been forgotten.<\/p>\n

\u201cDuring colonialism and apartheid, Ouma Katrina and other (indigenous) groups were not allowed to speak their languages, their languages were frowned upon, and that is how we got to the point where we are with minimal speakers,\u201d said Lorato Mokwena, a linguist from South Africa\u2019s University of the Western Cape. \u201cIt\u2019s important that while Ouma Katrina is around, that we do the best that we can to preserve the language and to document it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Click Language<\/p>\n

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N|uu is called a click language because of its unique click sounds. In fact, one primary click exists in very few languages. Linguists call the sound a \u201cbilabial plosive\u201d or in layman\u2019s terms: \u201ca kiss click\u201d. Because this tongue was primarily spoken and not written, there is little documentation, making it difficult to track it historically and discover more about it.<\/p>\n

The Last N|uu Speaker<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Around the 1990s, about 20 people stepped forward, all N|uu speakers. But by December 2021, the last one died, leaving only Esau. But her mission was already well underway. For 20 years, she worked with Dr. Kerry Jones, a linguist and Director of African Tongue, and other members of her community to create a digital N|uu dictionary. Although she had never been able to read, Esau worked with Snyman to author a N|uu children\u2019s book titled Qhoi n|a Tijho (Tortoise and Ostrich).<\/p>\n

\u201cHer granddaughter, Claudia can speak the language. Not fluently, but as an additional language. But she\u2019s literate and Ouma Katrina isn\u2019t literate, so between the two of them, it\u2019s a good combination,\u201d said Dr. Jones.<\/p>\n

Teaching the Next Generation<\/p>\n

As of May 2024, Esau became the central educator of a N|uu learning program at a local school. \u201cChildren are learning to greet, they are learning to sing songs, they are learning names for animals and plants,\u201d said Dr. Jones. \u201cThey\u2019re not going to be fluent speakers and be fully monolingual in N|uu. That\u2019s not reality, but they will be able to greet, they will be able to sing songs, they will be able to understand a basic children\u2019s story.\u201d<\/p>\n

In March 2023, Esau won an honorary doctorate from the University of Cape Town for her efforts and accomplishments. \u201cWho would have thought that a woman who never saw the inside of a school, who looked after sheep and cleaned kitchens on her hands and knees, would be here today?\u201d said Ouma Katrina during the ceremony that unveiled the completed the N|uu dictionary, the hardcover and digital version. \u201cThank you, UCT, for seeing your way clear to include me \u2013 an elderly woman who never learned to read.\u201d<\/p>\n

She was also honored with the Order of the Baobab in Silver by the Republic of South Africa for \u201cher excellent contribution to the preservation of a language that is facing a threat of extinction. Her determination to make the project successful has inspired young generations to learn.\u201d<\/p>\n

Why Should People Care About an Endangered Language?<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, languages die every year, and bits of history and culture die with them. Although this slow extinction is inevitable in the modern world, it depletes society of a certain richness. After all, it\u2019s not just a way of speaking; language reflects how people think, feel, express themselves, and see the world around them. It\u2019s a core part of identity.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are these codes that we use to communicate and we label these codes \u2018languages.\u2019 Your experience with one code or another code is the structure that creates your reality. That is fascinating,\u201d Dr. Jones said. \u201cBecause of globalization, we are losing access to these codes. That\u2019s such a loss. It\u2019s the same as saying \u2018Well, why give a sh*t about animals and plants that are going extinct?\u2019 It\u2019s because it\u2019s part of a bigger network \u2013 it\u2019s important.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ninety-one-year-old Katrina Esau is the last known speaker of N|uu. Years of colonialism and apartheid had almost wiped out this indigenous South African language. As a young… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2826,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2825","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.amazinggstory.fun\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2825","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.amazinggstory.fun\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.amazinggstory.fun\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.amazinggstory.fun\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.amazinggstory.fun\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2825"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.amazinggstory.fun\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2825\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2827,"href":"https:\/\/www.amazinggstory.fun\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2825\/revisions\/2827"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.amazinggstory.fun\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2826"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.amazinggstory.fun\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2825"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.amazinggstory.fun\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2825"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.amazinggstory.fun\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2825"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}