A bit o' sad news - end of an era.

[CameronCat]

Thia AP story, found today in various papers and news outlets:

LONDON (AP) — In a remote fishing town on the tip of Scotland’s Black Isle, the last native speaker of the Cromarty dialect has died, taking with him another little piece of the English linguistic mosaic.

Scottish academics said Wednesday that Bobby Hogg, who passed away last week at age 92, was the last person fluent in the dialect once common in the seaside town of Cromarty, about 175 miles (280 kilometers) north of Scottish capital Edinburgh.

The Biblically-influenced speech — complete with “thee” and “thou” — is one of many fading dialects which have been snuffed out across the British Isles.

Across the world, regional languages and dialects have disappeared as rural populations move to urban areas and compulsory education and mass media combine to iron out the kinks in local speech.

[creagdhubh]

I read this earlier. Very sad indeed.

[piperdbh]

Has this dialect been written down? It could possibly be relearned, hopefully.

[Tobus]

I think I had read somewhere that about 25 languages die each year around the world. That's one every two weeks. And while it seems like a natural transition when the world is becoming more of a 'global village', and where homogeneity seems to be the goal, it does seem quite sad. Losing these old languages is a loss for humanity's diversity and breadth.

[tulloch]

I noted it in our county paper this morning. Too bad. The older I get the more I regret change.

[mookien]

Nee ho MA (transliteration). I don't mean to be contentious, but I regard the extinction of dialects or languages as a move away from the Tower of Babel. While there is short-term regret, even sadness, in the long run I think the unification of language is a good thing. I suspect that in future generations humans will be speaking some dialect of Chinese. Si chen.

[piperchris]

This is truly sad news. When something wonderful like this dies out and is really irreplacable it is truly a huge loss for the world and posterity. I hope this dialect was meticulously recorded, achived and written out. Rest in Peace, old friend!