Last words
by Matthew

The Guardian reports that in the world today, ‘…there are around 2,500 languages at risk, including more than 500 considered “critically endangered” and 199 which have fewer than 10 native speakers.’

An Akuntsu man ruminates.

‘A once healthy language dies because its speakers shift allegiances to that of a bigger, more powerful group of people and, while this can happen through political pressure and military force, it is now most often brought about by the flood of migration from the country to the city.’

Or, as with the language of the Akuntsu, a community of just six people, human massacre and land theft will also consign a language to history.

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