Gyani Maiya Sen-Kusunda

Gyani Maiya Sen-Kusunda
Gyani Maiya Sen Kusunda in 2018
Gyani Maiya Sen Kusunda in 2018
Born1937
DiedJanuary 25, 2020(2020-01-25) (aged 82–83)[1]
Kulmor, Dang District, Nepal, Nepal[1]
NationalityNepalese
Other namesGyani Maiya,
Gyani Maiya Sen[2]
RelativesKamala Sen-Khatri (sister)

Gyani Maiya Sen-Kusunda (1937 – 25 January 2020) was a Kusunda community elder from Nepal. She was presumed to be the last known speaker of Kusunda,[3] a language isolate listed as the critically endangered language in the Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger.[4] Sen-Kusunda could not converse with others in her community in Kusunda despite being fluent as the language fell out of use over time after the nomadic Kusunda community started to settle in villages and married outside the community. She was interviewed widely by linguists and other scholars in an effort to document the Kusunda language.[2]

She died on 25 January 2020.[1]

  1. ^ a b c "Global Voices - Hope for dying Nepali language wanes as one of the last fluent speakers passes away at 85". Global Voices. 2020-01-31. Archived from the original on 2022-10-20. Retrieved 2022-08-22.
  2. ^ a b "Nepal's mystery language on the verge of extinction". BBC News. 2012-05-12. Archived from the original on 2022-08-22. Retrieved 2022-08-22.
  3. ^ "Can Dying Languages Be Saved?". The New Yorker. 2015-03-23. Archived from the original on 2018-01-18. Retrieved 2022-08-22.
  4. ^ Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger (3rd ed.). UNESCO. 2010. ISBN 978-92-3-104096-2. OL 27680143M. Wikidata Q28100282.