Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Taiwanese Linguist Races to Save Dying Language | Reduction

Taiwanese Linguist Races to Save Dying Language

Taipei Main Station, Taiwan
Taipei Main Station, Taiwan by Luke,Ma
License (according to Flickr): Attribution License
Excerpt:

Her eyes lit bright with concentration, Taiwanese linguist Sung Li-may leans in expectantly as one of the planet's last 10 speakers of the Kanakanavu language shares his hopes for the future. "I am already very old," says 80-year-old Mu'u Ka'angena, a leathery faced man with a tough, sinewy body and deeply veined hands. A light rain falls onto the thatched roof of the communal bamboo hut, and smoke from a dying fire drifts lazily up the walls, wafting over deer antlers, boar jawbones and ceremonial swords that decorate the interior like trophies from a forgotten time. "Every day I think: Can our language be passed down to the next generation? It is the deepest wish in my heart that it can be." Kanakanavu, Sung says, has a lot more going for it than just its intrinsic value.

Keywords:

language Taiwan Kanakanavu language Sung Taiwanese linguist Sung Kanakanavu language shares 80-year-old Mu'u Ka'angena communal bamboo hut linguist Robert Blust government-recognized aboriginal languages youngest good speaker archaeologist Peter Bellwood National Taiwan University leveraged superior navigation widely accepted theory Hsiao Lin Tsuen Nanzixian River valley whitewashed concrete buildings recent Saturday afternoon Roman Catholic missionaries people boar jawbones language family Austronesian language deer antlers dominant language thatched roof light rain sinewy body ceremonial swords deepest wish intrinsic value Southern Tsou African island torrential rains South America Kanakanavu speakers Easter Island well-ordered cluster Taiwanese population young people grammatical subtleties picturesque village reverent belief remote corners tiny cadre harsh elements small group graduate students younger generations

People:

Sung

Overall Sentiment: 0.221405

Relevance: 0.638423

SentimentQuote
0.225295"To survive a language has to be spoken," Sung said. ...
0.225295"To survive a language has to be spoken," Sung said. "And with this one it isn't happening."
Sentiment Stats:
  • Number of Quotes: 2
  • Aggregate Sentiment: 0.45059
  • Mean: 0.225295
  • Standard Deviation: 0

Sung Li-may

Overall Sentiment: 0.23023

Relevance: 0.467275

Mu'u Ka'angena

Overall Sentiment: -0.310384

Relevance: 0.389254

SentimentQuote
-0.0558771"I am already very old," says 80-year-old Mu'u Ka'angena, ...
Sentiment Stats:
  • Number of Quotes: 1
  • Aggregate Sentiment: -0.0558771
  • Mean: -0.0558771
  • Standard Deviation: 1.4142135623731

Hsiao Lin Tsuen

Overall Sentiment: 0.138578

Relevance: 0.376225

Anguana

Overall Sentiment: -0.0714038

Relevance: 0.320276

Peter Bellwood

Overall Sentiment: 0.110754

Relevance: 0.303033

Robert Blust

Overall Sentiment: 0.355291

Relevance: 0.278262

Key:

  • Aggregate Sentiment is meant to be an indicator of an individual's overall sentiment.
  • The Mean is meant to be an indicator of an individual's average comment sentiment.
  • The Standard Deviation, when there are enough quotes, will indicate an individual's consistency of sentiment (i.e. a Standard Deviation of 0 would mean they were very consistent in their sentiment and 1 would mean they were very inconsistent).

Note that quote stats are likely to be meaningless beyond the aggregate score due to the tiny sample size. However, they are always provided just in case you find something useful there.

Additional Info:

FieldTerminology: Taiwanese

Overall Sentiment: 0.331918

Relevance: 0.415093

Country: Taiwan

Overall Sentiment: 0.166591

Relevance: 0.786792

Country: Madagascar

Overall Sentiment: 0

Relevance: 0.330076

GeographicFeature: Easter Island

Overall Sentiment: 0.0164217

Relevance: 0.46861

GeographicFeature: Nanzixian River valley

Overall Sentiment: -0.091311

Relevance: 0.321124

Continent: South America

Overall Sentiment: 0

Relevance: 0.341816

Organization: National Taiwan University

Overall Sentiment: 0

Relevance: 0.43204

Company: jawbones

Overall Sentiment: -0.316725

Relevance: 0.372939

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