The language of Ayapaneco has been spoken in the land now known as Mexico for centuries. It has survived the Spanish conquest, seen off wars, revolutions, famines and floods. But now, like so many other indigenous languages, it's at risk of extinction.
There are just two people left who can speak Ayapaneco fluently - but they refuse to talk to each other. Manuel Segovia, 75, and Isidro Velazquez, 69, live less than a mile from each other in the village of Ayapa in the tropical lowlands of the southern state of Tabasco. It is not clear whether there is a long-buried argument behind their mutual avoidance, but people who know them say they have never really enjoyed each other's company.
1 comment(s):
The implied assumption in the way this "dying language" story is covered is that if these two bitter old men could just speak to one another this language will be saved. Once these two men have passed on, however, succeding generations will find it useless to converse (to whom?)in the language and it will only "survive" in a few words and phrases. They will have less fluency in it than I have in Spanish, which is comically fractured and shallow.
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