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November 18th : article on the Sîshëë language published in Les Nouvelles Calédoniennes.
The article’s title, « A language is dying out », gives the tone. The language concerned is Sîshëë, one of the 28 Kanak languages of New Caledonia, spoken by a handful of people around Moindou and Bourail. According to UNESCO criteria, it is critically endangered.
The author conveys the words of Roger Tavergeux, one of the last speakers of Sîshëë. He explains that the state of the language has not always been as bad as it is today, that the vicissitudes of history have weakened it over the years between the 1878 uprising and the settlement of convicts, until it finally reached the point of being spoken by no more than 15 people.
Fortunately the language has been described in a book by Claude Lercari, from INALCO (National Institute of Oriental Languages and Civilizations in Paris), a book that will allow the language to survive a little beyond its native speakers.