The Andaman and Nicobar Island chain, nestled in the Bengali Bay, are the site of some of the oldest, continuous human habitation. There are less than 250 Native Andamaran tribesmen left today.
Via several sources, but notably A Blog About History, comes some sad news. Boa, the last known native speaker of the Bo or Aka-Bo Language, has passed away. The loss of any indigenous langauge, plant, people, animal is always a bad thing, but this one was particular devastating, as this language was sort of a linguistic missing link; spoken for nearly 70,000 years.
Globalization's unforeseen effects: Losing our cultural patrimony throughout the world.
Sadly, the situation across the globe is not just like losing the dodo or the carrier pigeon or the panda; according to UNESCO there are literally 6000 indigenous languages that are on the verge of being extinct. Every time we lose one of those, we lose not only a link to our past, but another piece of the puzzle in reconstructing our habitation and migration on this lonely planet.
To hear the haunting, lilting melody that was the now extinct Aka-Bo language, check out the BBC's article on this story.
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