ABSTRACT
Any definitive statistics on dying languages, the indigenous communities in all parts of world have been experiencing the phenomenon of language loss as an everyday reality. The outlines of their particular narratives may vary, but the Maoris in New Zealand, the Aboriginals in Australia, the Adivasis in India, the Canadian First Nations, the American Natives and the tribal communities in South East Asia and South America present similar stories of language loss and cultural erosion. The environment of rapid cultural globalization has been causing the depletion of their word stocks and oral memories, and the involuntary outward migration that has become necessary for their very survival has induced a shift towards a few international languages. This chapter describes the voice of the communities for whom language loss has come to be the very condition of their own survival. They establish that the aphasia imposed on the indigenous is a visible symptom of a deeper malaise.
