The Most Endangered Language Has Just One Living Speaker, And She’s Trying to Save It : The Hearty Soul

Ninety-one-year-old Katrina Esau is the last known speaker of N|uu, an indigenous South African language nearly wiped out by colonialism and apartheid. Despite being told to be ashamed of her language as a young girl, Esau set out to preserve N|uu by founding a school and creating a dictionary. With only a few phrases left to teach, she longs for someone to converse with in N|uu. Her granddaughter, Claudia Snyman, has joined her in the fight to revive the language, but their progress was hindered by vandalism during the pandemic. N|uu, a click language spoken by the ǂKhomani people, holds significant historical and cultural value. It is characterized by unique click sounds, making documentation and preservation difficult. Esau’s dedication to preserving N|uu earned her an honorary doctorate and an Order of the Baobab in Silver. The importance of saving endangered languages lies in preserving history, culture, and identity.