Phonological changes vs. linguistic obsolescence: what is their impact in the revitalization of rama?

Abstract

This study presents a crossed glance into the phonological changes of a language in the process of extinction and the impact of those changes in the effort to revitalize it. The work is based on a case study of the language rama, which was considered almost extinct in the eighties and has been since then benefited by a program of description, documentation and revitalization. After a presentation of the sociolinguistic situation of rama and the context in which the revitalization program is inscribed, the phenomena of linguistic obsolescence will be described through the study of the loss of a phoneme, the velar nasal / ŋ /. Finally, the challenge for the revitalization efforts that the appearance of new “variants” due to this kind of obsolescence represents will be analyzed.