Dahaalik is said to be similar to Afar and Arabic

[XXPANTHAXX]

Nearly a decade after accidentally discovering a previously
unknown language on an Indian Ocean archipelago off the
Eritrean coast, a French linguist is fighting to save the
unwritten, untaught tongue.

Marie-Claude Simeone-Senelle who, with colleague Martine
Vanhove, found Dahlak island fishermen conversing in the
unusual vernacular nine years ago, said: "Dahaalik is part of
humanity's heritage and must be preserved."

Puzzled by words and usage that did not correspond to the two
main languages of the region - Afar and Arabic - the pair at
first thought it was a dialect of Tigre, but later
ascertained it was a distinct entity, she said.

Although close to Arabic and Tigre, Dahaalik was determined
to be a language in itself due to its markedly different
phonetics, morphology and syntax, but had languished in
obscurity on the isles off the port of Massawa.

No written tradition

"Before 1996, no one had heard of Dahaalik," said Simeone-
Senelle, an Afro-Asiatic language specialist at the French
National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS).

"We have to find out how it appeared," she said. "For the
moment, we don't know when it emerged."

Now spoken by only about 3000 people on the three islands,
and not currently taught in schools, Dahaalik, whose origins
remain a mystery, is in danger of dying out, she said.

"The understanding of this language, which has an oral but no
written tradition, will ... provide us with a better
knowledge of Eritrean history and its human components," said
Simeone-Senelle who recently returned from another research
trip to the islands to study the language.

In her bid to preserve Dahaalik with the help of Eritrean
authorities, Simeone-Senelle has been collecting "tales,
poems, riddles, stories of traditions and vocabulary
concerning daily life, animals, boats and fishing
techniques".

Dahaalik dictionary

With these snippets, she has begun to compile a Dahaalik
dictionary and grammar book, creating a written version of
the language in the Roman alphabet by mimicking its sounds.

"It's a long job," Simeone-Senelle said. "I have already
listed 1500 words, but in all it will take several years."

The nascent dictionary is currently limited to Dahaalik into
French, but she hopes the as yet unfinished lexicon will
become more multilingual, from Dahaalik into English, Arabic
and Tigre.

Because it was not discovered until 1996, after Eritrea
outlined its policy of linguistic pluralism, Dahaalik is not
taught in Dahlak schools now, but Eritrean officials say they
intend to introduce it into the curriculum, adding it to
Arabic.

"The plan is that one day Dahaalik will also be taught in
schools," said Zemehret Yohannes, head of research and
documentation at Eritrea's sole political party, the People's
Front for Democracy and Justice.