Posted on Mon, Jul 15, 2013 : 5:21 p.m.
University of Michigan linguist finds budding language in Australia
By Kellie Woodhouse
A University of Michigan linguist discovered an infant language while conducting research in Australia.
According to the New York Times, for a decade Carmel O’Shannessy has studied the language of children living in a remote village of about 700 people in Australia’s Northern Territory.
She discovered that the village's young people developed their own language. Roughly 350 people under 35 in the territory speak it, the Times reported.
The language is called Light Warlpiri.
Kellie Woodhouse covers higher education for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at kelliewoodhouse@annarbor.com or 734-623-4602 and follow her on twitter.
Comments
Ann English
Mon, Jul 15, 2013 : 10:51 p.m.
Hopefully, the developers of Light Walpiri came up with an alphabet for it, so they can write it and read it. Nobody ever said that any particular language should NOT have a written form.