The Language

WHAT THE SOURCES SAY The Wikipedia article on Ekori identifies Lokaa as the native language, with English as the official language and Pidgin English also spoken. The Yakurrwatchblog account of Yakurr history states that the names of several settlements changed from earlier forms — it lists "Umor, Ekoli, Iloli and Yakurr Ibe" among them — attributing the change to difficulty of pronunciation by Europeans. The relationship between the names Ekoli and Ekori is a question this archive exists to settle properly, from the community's own knowledge rather than from a blog post. WHY THIS MATTERS NOW Many Ekoli-Yeden children are growing up outside the community. Some know their heritage without being fluent in the language of it. A language that is spoken but never recorded survives only as long as its last fluent speaker. WHAT THE ARCHIVE IS BUILDING A dictionary of words and their meanings, with pronunciation recorded by native speakers — so that what is preserved is the sound of the language and not only its spelling. Greetings, numbers, family terms, proverbs, idioms, riddles and songs. Dialect and family variation recorded rather than flattened, because the variation is part of the language. Not one word has been entered into that dictionary by this software, and none ever will be. Every entry must come from a native speaker or a recognised language scholar. A guessed meaning would be worse than an empty page, because it would look finished. If you speak the language and can contribute words, meanings, examples or recordings, that is the single most valuable thing you can give this archive.