Last two speakers of dying language don’t talk much

The ancient language of Ayapaneco may die off, as its last two fluent speakers are apparently feuding and are not keen to talk to each other.

Indiana University anthropologist Daniel Suslak is writing a dictionary of the Mexican indigenous language. He tells The Guardian he doesn't know why the last two speakers--Manuel Segovia, 75, and Isidro Velazquez, 69--who live in the same village in the state of Tabasco, Mexico, prefer not to converse.

At least that there hasn't been a dramatic falling out between the men. "They don't have a lot in common," Suslak told the paper. Segovia is "a little prickly," while Velazquez is "more stoic."

Segovia says he doesn't have a problem with Velazquez. He speaks Ayapaneco to his wife and son, who understand him but can't speak it themselves. Velazquez speaks a slightly different version of the language, and the pair argue over the differences.

In 2009, UNESCO said nearly 2,500 of the world's 6,000 languages were on the verge of extinction, including the language of Menomonee, which has only 35 speakers left, all in northeast Wisconsin.