World's Most Endangered Language Has Only One Person Left Alive Who Can Speak It

A language with almost 20,000 years of history is in danger of going extinct.

The world's most endangered language, N|uu (spoken with a clicking sound between the 'N' and the 'uu'), has just one fluent speaker at this time: Ouma. Katerina Esau.

The San people, who belong to any of the native hunter-gatherer cultures of southern Africa, are the originators of this click language.

It came from the ʂKhomani people, who lived in the savannah of the southern Kalahari, which is located on the borders of Namibia, South Africa, and Botswana today.

A written dictionary of N|uu has been completed. YouTube/SABC News

The language is primarily spoken, which accounts for its scant written record in history. 

Additionally, during the 19th century, the British Empire, with its colonial ambitions in Africa, suppressed its use by beating and even killing those who spoke it.

Due to this, the language was driven underground and many people were reluctant to speak it in public.

However, in the 1990s, sociolinguist Dr. Nigel Crawhall and the UN made an effort to uncover the language.

Twenty-five people claimed to be fluent in N|uu when they came forward, but by December 2021, only Esau remained.

African Tongue is a linguistic consultancy that works with modern speakers of southern African endangered languages, Ju, Tuu, and Khoe, to create educational and artistic materials.

Dr. Kerry Jones, the organization's director and linguist, gave an in-depth history of the language to IFLScience.

Ouma Katrina Esau is the only fluent speaker of N|uu. YouTube/SABC News

She said: "The 90s was a massive turnaround point and where people were starting to feel safe to come forward.

"We had these elderly people who were coming forward saying, ‘Look, I'm gonna die soon anyway, so it's okay. I'm gonna let you know: I’m not actually 'coloured', I'm San. 

"And I can prove it because I can still speak the language.’ The language became key in proving their identity.

"People used to move through that whole region between South Africa, Namibia, and Botswana all the time. 

"Then all of a sudden, these people came and started putting up fences and saying you had to have identification and passports.

Esau worked with her local community as well as Dr Kerry Jones to help revive the language. YouTube/SABC News

"This was the beginning of the demise in a way because it's started to separate people. Their families were split up."

To revive the language, Esau has been teaching her granddaughter in it and has been collaborating with Dr. Jones to preserve it through the creation of a digital N|uu dictionary.

And since May, Essau has been visiting nearby schools to teach children the fundamentals of the click language, marking the first time in decades that the language is being taught to younger generations.

Dr Jones added: "Her granddaughter, Claudia can speak the language. Not fluently, but as an additional language. 

"But she's literate and Ouma Katrina isn't literate, so between the two of them, it's a good combination."