Naka-ela Language: Learn and appreciate the history of extinct languages
James T. Collins
Institut Kajian Etnik Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
Abstract
In 1978 at Taniwel, North Horror (Maluku) was still available for Nakaela speakers. According to sources, the former Nakaela language community is located between the Iha community on the beach and the Alune community on the mountain. The colonial writers seem to ignore or do not know the existence of this language. By omitting the Nakaela language, you may have lost the opportunity to document it thoroughly. In the study 40 years ago, only about 500-600 words were recorded and several paradigms of reflection were collected. However, at that time it was estimated that only 2 or 3 people could speak Naka-ela. The Nakaela language is quite amazing. For example, there are still five different verbal conjugates. It also tracks the system of verbal verbs with subjects appearing as suffixes at the end of their verbs, such as [my words] I laugh or [my words] You are laughing and so on. Complex languages that are different from nearby languages may now be extinct without proper documentation. In fact, there is a writer (Mukhamdanah 2015) who ignores the uniqueness of this language and considers it only a dialect of a language spoken on another island 600 km away from the location on Seram Island! In this paper, you will find a little information about Nakaela language and a description of the sociolinguistic situation and the setting of the data. What can we learn from these reflections on the beauty and loss of these extinct Naka-ela languages? What steps should we take to preserve another language now in danger?
Keywords: Bahasa Naka-ela,
Topic: Language