In Australia, scientists have discovered a new language spoken by only 350 people – linguists
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Linguists have documented what they believe is a new language “quietly blossoming” in Lajaman, a remote village in northern Australia home to the Warlpiri people.
Light Warlpiri or Warlpiri Rampaku is a language created by mixing various elements of Australian English and English Creole with Aboriginal vocabulary, IFL Science reports.
Australian linguist and professor of linguistics at the Australian National University, Carmel O’Shannessy, first reported on the “new language” in 2005 and has been studying it in detail ever since.
“Generally easy Warlpiri is a mixed language structure, as most of the verbs and the morphology of some words are taken from English and/or Creole languages. Nouns are taken both from the Warlpiri lexicon and from English vocabulary sources.” – says Carmel O’Shannessy.
| Photo: ivosar/Depositphotos |
She believes the language started back in the 1970s and 1980s, when some Warlpiri adults started using the occasional English or Kriol word in the middle of sentences. In linguistics, this phenomenon is called code switching – when a speaker alternates between two or more languages during a conversation. When children heard these complex sentences, they processed them into a single language and this gave an impetus to its development.
“For a ‘mixed’ language to develop, you need to hear bilingual or multilingual people systematically code-switching, and have a social reason to create their own way of speaking. Code-switching does not usually lead to this result, it is a rare phenomenon.”said scientist O’Shannessy.
Over the years, this language developed naturally and even became a native language for some Lajaman residents. Even the traditional Warlpiri is now on the verge of extinction and is spoken by about four thousand people. In contrast, the light warlpiri is even more obscure to scientists. It is spoken by about 350 people, most of whom have not yet reached the age of 40.
Earlier we wrote that native language can influence our brain.
Vira Shurmakevich, “UP. Life”
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