ON LANGUAGE NAMES /// RE: Results of Duplicate Busters Survey #2//Ainu, Aynu, Ajnu

[Mark Crispin]

I agree that Ainu is moribund, but I believe that there are many more than 15 native speakers.

According to Wikipedia (a dubious source, but...) there are about 1000 native speakers in Hokkaido; and in Nibuntani, there are 100 speakers, of which 15 used the language daily in the late 1980s.

Also, as Wikipedia notes, there is an active movement in Japan to revitalize the language, much as there is with some Native languages in North America.  The jury is out as to whether that will lead to an increase in native speakers as opposed to second-language speakers.

-- Mark --

http://panda.com/mrc
Democracy is two wolves and a sheep deciding what to eat for lunch.
Liberty is a well-armed sheep contesting the vote.

> From: doug at ewellic.org
> To: ietf-languages at iana.org

> With 15 living speakers of "Ainu
> (Japan)," it's unlikely there is much need to distinguish "Japanese
> usage" from "Russian usage."


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