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Unserdeutsch

Around 1900, German nuns helped establish one of the rarest languages on Earth: Unserdeutsch, a fascinating mix of German, English and Tok Pisin. It's the only German-based Creole language in the world, and was spoken in a specific region of German-New Guinea. Today, the descendants of those pioneers still speak Unserdeutsch, and a German linguist from Augsburg visited them in Australia, where they came to after Papua New Guinea became independent and a sovereign nation in the second part of the 20th century.

Linguists rush to study dying Unserdeutsch language

One of the world rarest languages is being kept alive in Australia, spoken by just a handful of families. International researchers are rushing to document a colonial-era creole before it becomes extinct.

 

 

 


1 min read

Published

Updated

By Stefan Armbruster

Presented by Christian Froelicher

Source: SBS



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