Theiling Online    Sitemap    Conlang Mailing List HQ   

Re: Klingons

From:John Cowan <cowan@...>
Date:Wednesday, July 28, 1999, 2:52
Tom Wier scripsit:

> <sigh> Unfortunately, this should be of no particular suprise to > anyone here. There are *tons* of languages which have just a > handful of speakers left (as any cursory reading of the ethnologue > will show), and so the sad fact is that the Onion, in this case, has > some serious content to it. ;)
No it doesn't. Here's what the Ethnologue says: # 148,530 speakers including 7,616 monolinguals (1990 census) out # of 219,198 ethnic Navaho (1990 USA Census Bureau). Northeastern # Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, southeastern Utah, and a few in # Colorado. Na-Dene, Nuclear Na-Dene, Athapaskan-Eyak, Athapaskan, # Apachean, Navajo-Apache, Western Apache-Navajo. Language use is # vigorous. The people prefer the name 'Dine'. Bible 1985. NT 1956-1959. # Bible portions 1910-1994. I find it hard to believe that 150,000 speakers have shrunk to a thousand or less in a mere ten years. It sounds to me like the number of speakers has gotten mixed up with the population figures. http://www.ncbe.gwu.edu/miscpubs/stabilize/ii-policy/hypotheses.htm (which is dated 1996) says that 18% of Navajo kindergarteners are monolingual in Navajo and 28% are bilingual. This is down from 20 years ago, where 95% had Navajo and most were monolingual, but hardly incipient language death just yet. -- John Cowan cowan@ccil.org I am a member of a civilization. --David Brin