The young of our clan do not want to learn. And why would they? Why would anyone want to learn a language that some would kill you for?— A Koushan Mai elder
Mokai Mai, translated as 'the words', is the native language of the
Koushan Mai people. It is a purely oral language with no written form. With the colonisation of their
homeland and continued persecution, Mokai Mai language is beginning to die out, with only the most isolated clans speaking it day to day. Whilst most Koushan Mai know at least a few words, it is slowly losing out to both
Caillan or
Seruic, depending on location.
Telling the
oral histories are an integral part of Koushan Mai culture, to the point where each clan has a designated
master of stories. This person has learnt all of the history and mythology of the Koushan Mai by rote, and will teach this to several apprentices. To the Koushan Mai, there is no need for a written record.
Over the years, there have been attempts to transcribe Mokai Mai into the
script most common across
Caia. This has been relatively difficult as no one can seem to reach agreements on how certain phonemes should be spelt, or how different quirks of grammar should be notated. Some words, such as the name for the Koushan Mai themselves, have become relatively consistent in recent years, though some older texts have spellings such as 'koshanmai', 'ko shan mi', or 'koshun my'. Other words have no consistency, such as the word for the Koushan Mai tradition of
tattooing. Depending on who is writing, this word can be spelt 'lelashan', 'lel'a shan', 'lel ah shan', or 'lela shan'. The apostrophe-a combination has been pushed by some scholars to denote possesion, but it has not yet caught on.
In
Kaien, scholars at the
University of Linguistics have been trying to preserve the language by standardising a written form. Amongst the scholars working on the endeavour are a few Koushan Mai, refugees from their former homeland. This project is still in its infancy, but the university is confident their work will prevent Mokai Mai from becoming completely extinct.
How sad it is that languages go extinct! A great article, however. It's very interesting that the language has no written form, either! :)
Thanks! It's really sad, but at least there's some effort to preserve it going on.