Yaaku: 10 speakers, 1 language
The Mukogodo, indigenous to the Mukogodo forest in Kenya, are one of the smallest tribes in the world consisting of only 5500 members. There language scarcer, with only Ten people speaking and only one completely fluent.
The Yaaku is an example of how some languages struggle after cultural assimilation. Today the language sustains with one completely fluent speaker, an 84 year-old man, determined to save their dying language in order to preserve their culture and identity.
The Mukogodo face several challenges in reviving their language.With no systematic teaching method and lack of teaching materials (i.e dictionaries) the lessons stay limited to vocabulary without grammar or conversation. Will the Yaaku language …show more content…
By learning it enabled them to trade their honey and fruit on the Maasai markets. However this cultural assimilation had negative consequences on their language.
The Cushitic language Yaaku almost disappeared when the tribe replaced it with the Eastern Nilotic Maasai language between 1925 and 1936. The reason for this change is mostly of social status. The Yaaku believed that learning the language of the richer pastoralist tribe would offer a better life. The Maasai looked down upon Yaaku people, referring to them as Dorobo (those without cattle), and the Mukogodo believed the culture of the Maasai to be superior. This cultural conversion caused the Yaaku to inherit the Maasai’s negative attitude towards the Yaaku language, leading to its near extinction.
However the negative attitude towards the minority language has changed over time.
The situation among the Mukogodo now: a large number of people are eager to speak Yaaku again but have lost lost the language. Those fluent in the language are willing to teach …show more content…
Unless, a more realistic strategy is used; creating a Yaaku language based on Maasai grammar with Yaaku vocabulary.
The Mbugu in the Tanzania speak a Cushitic language close to Yaaku. The Mbugu have lost their native language after they turned to speaking pare. However, their language now thrives as the Mbugu speak two languages: one being pare and one which shares pare grammar, but uses a different vocabulary. They constructed this new language after losing their own, mixing as many words form their old language and adding word from other languages. This provided them with an identity which they thought they had lost after turning to Pare.
This could be an alternative for the Yaaku. They can use Maasai grammar, learnt growing up and add Yaaku vocabulary. Reinforced with a dictionary of their own language, cassettes containing Yaaku speech, providing a curriculum based on Yaaku in school with appropriate materials and the few remaining speakers continuing to speak the language in the
The Mukogodo, indigenous to the Mukogodo forest in Kenya, are one of the smallest tribes in the world consisting of only 5500 members. There language scarcer, with only Ten people speaking and only one completely fluent.
The Yaaku is an example of how some languages struggle after cultural assimilation. Today the language sustains with one completely fluent speaker, an 84 year-old man, determined to save their dying language in order to preserve their culture and identity.
The Mukogodo face several challenges in reviving their language.With no systematic teaching method and lack of teaching materials (i.e dictionaries) the lessons stay limited to vocabulary without grammar or conversation. Will the Yaaku language …show more content…
By learning it enabled them to trade their honey and fruit on the Maasai markets. However this cultural assimilation had negative consequences on their language.
The Cushitic language Yaaku almost disappeared when the tribe replaced it with the Eastern Nilotic Maasai language between 1925 and 1936. The reason for this change is mostly of social status. The Yaaku believed that learning the language of the richer pastoralist tribe would offer a better life. The Maasai looked down upon Yaaku people, referring to them as Dorobo (those without cattle), and the Mukogodo believed the culture of the Maasai to be superior. This cultural conversion caused the Yaaku to inherit the Maasai’s negative attitude towards the Yaaku language, leading to its near extinction.
However the negative attitude towards the minority language has changed over time.
The situation among the Mukogodo now: a large number of people are eager to speak Yaaku again but have lost lost the language. Those fluent in the language are willing to teach …show more content…
Unless, a more realistic strategy is used; creating a Yaaku language based on Maasai grammar with Yaaku vocabulary.
The Mbugu in the Tanzania speak a Cushitic language close to Yaaku. The Mbugu have lost their native language after they turned to speaking pare. However, their language now thrives as the Mbugu speak two languages: one being pare and one which shares pare grammar, but uses a different vocabulary. They constructed this new language after losing their own, mixing as many words form their old language and adding word from other languages. This provided them with an identity which they thought they had lost after turning to Pare.
This could be an alternative for the Yaaku. They can use Maasai grammar, learnt growing up and add Yaaku vocabulary. Reinforced with a dictionary of their own language, cassettes containing Yaaku speech, providing a curriculum based on Yaaku in school with appropriate materials and the few remaining speakers continuing to speak the language in the