3. TIL That the last two speakers of a dying Mexican language, Ayapaneco, refused t...

TIL That the last two speakers of a dying Mexican language, Ayapaneco, refused to speak to each other because they didn't like each other

For those on mobile.

A centuries old language that was close to extinction has been saved after the last two speakers decided to end a feud that has lasted decades. Manuel Segovia, 78, and Isidro Velazquez, 72, stopped speaking to each other after a disagreement and it was feared that Ayapaneco could die out.

Now, a programme developed by mobile giant Vodafone looks set to save Ayapaneco for future generations. Vodafone Firsts is an initiative developed by the telecommunication giants to allow people to do something that they had never done before. Vodafone has built a mobile site to allow people across the world to 'adopt' an Ayapaneco word, watch tutorials by the two native speakers and upload videos of themselves online saying Ayapaneco words.

A film was made by Stanford University linguistic anthropologist Professor James A Fox that shows the emotional moment that Senor Segovia and Senor Velazquez made up their quarrel.Prof Fox had gone to Mexico to remind the men of their responsibility to secure the future of the language.The linguist had been working for nearly 20 years on the preservation of Ayapaneco and other threatened indigenous languages.

Vodafone also helped the locals to build a school where children could be taught their native language and even named it Ayapa: Manuel and Isidro's School of Ayapaneco. A festival to celebrate the opening of the school was the first time many people were able to hear the town's only native speakers talk to each other in Ayapaneco.

Senor Segovia speaks to his wife and son in his native tongue. They understand him but, other than a few words, are not thought to speak much of the language. Prof Fox said: ‘We have, in cooperation with Manuel and Isidro, compiled a dictionary for this language, covering the main areas of life. With Vodafone's help, this dictionary is now available online and will make a crucial contribution to help rescue Ayapaneco.’

Ayapaneco words and phrases, such as ko'o, meaning 'goodbye', oo'no, meaning 'cloudy', and maa'k, meaning 'to fish', and more unusual ones such as oo'ko, meaning 'Adam's apple', can now be 'adopted' on the site. Those wanting to discover more can visit www.ayapaneco.com

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