Our catch phrase is on its way.

Dear Fellow Earthlings,

In his 1991 book “Reversing Language Shift", Joshua A. Fishman describes on pages 6 through 8 how “fostering ‘Small-Scale Community Life’ is difficult but crucial “ in any effort undertaken to reverse language shift " – and that a language CAN be “augmented”, “developed”, and “modified”, although doing so is not easy. I saw this first-hand when I visited Seneca country in November of last year (2013). The Seneca children that I had the honor and privilege to speak with during my November visit are lucky to have “G” and the other Seneca teachers there to teach them and to love them. But those children are far from being native speakers of Seneca.

You see, Seneca has lost its role in the community of Salamanca, New York. The “popular consumerism”, the influence of big money and big politics, and the manifestations of globalization have seeped into every nook and cranny of Salamanca and its surrounding area.

Fishman’s “language shift” is almost complete in Salamanca. When I was in that town this past November, I saw plenty of Seneca people as well as a few historical signs written in the phonetic symbols that linguists have provided to the Seneca people. BUT I HEARD NO SENECA SPOKEN, SAW NO SENECA EXCHANGES BETWEEN SENECA PEOPLE, AND – other than when I visited a few specially designated Seneca buildings, I am sad to report -- FELT NO SENECA CULTURE.

Is there any way to save the day? Yes! The Jingles! But The Jingles in the form of gaënö’! The gaënö’ will serve as the “small-scale community" that Fishman mentions in his book. The term that I use is the “community allophonome”. I would wish to use the term “community phonome”… However, it is too late for that. You see, there are no native speakers of Seneca left other than “G”, who is 66 years of age, and 70 or 80 Seneca elders in their 80s and 90s. There are no post-pubescent young people or even any adults below the age of 65 who learned Seneca as a native tongue. The “community phonome” of all but 75 or so Seneca people is England-based American English. Thus, if present day Seneca adults can somehow regain use of the Seneca language, it will be as a second language -- and thus be a product of their secondary allophonome. It will not be their phonome.

The shock endured by the Salamanca area Seneca people when much of their land was flooded by a dam that the people did not want has led to what the Seneca people themselves call “the lost generation”. It is the loss of that generation that has broken the continuity of the “intergenerational mother tongue transition” so vital in keeping a language alive and well!

Steve Walker, Earthsaver and Jingles Creator

© 2013 Steve Walker, The Jingles-The Japan Foundation for English Pronunciation, Summit Enterprises.