It is questionable whether this is actually a true language or a dialect of another language spoken in this country. Its speakers certainly refer to it as a language. It has poor intelligibility with the official language of the country though some people say it is a transitional between another language and the official language.
It is said to be dying and the true hard form has only maybe 3,000 speakers. However, maybe 50,000 people speak some form of this lect.
As recently as 2003, one could hear this language spoken every day in the rural areas, and in 2007, children were still coming to school speaking such hard forms of this lect that their teachers had a hard time understanding them, so it appears that intergenerational transmission has not stopped. Until recently there were even monolinguals of this language.
One man reported that his grandmother spoke only this language and even refused to learn the official language of the state which she considered to be an imposed language. This is a quite remote area with high mountains ranging up to 6,000 feet, hence this is where the language has held out the longest. It appears to be intelligible with a true language that is spoken in this nation, so really it is a part of that group. It has very close relations with two of the languages that I have put up in recent days, and in fact may be a part of one of those languages.
One interesting theory is that the extremely famous official language of this nation has its roots in this language. It grew out of this language in the year 1100 and then expanded throughout the land gradually supplanting the other languages of the land, which were actually the language of various “crowns.” The fact that most people have not heard of it by no means lets you slackers off the hook.
La lengua alcontramola emos puelos de toa, norti i, urienti i ucidenti´l , un tirritöriu castigäu pola marcha juera déyos de muchos de los sus vicinos, iscripíu meyu abaldonaos: cola salía de los nuestros Vayis, marcharin las presonas que palraban. ¿I la genti que quéa hui? Prefirin en abondos estantis, ulvidalo, esta mal vistu, no da de domé i juera l´aldea es un verdaéru enconemienti gastalo. Ena ciudá la tilivición, l´arrädiu, el trebäju, la vida´n tolos sus aspeutos, el juturu…son en. Si acá paltras eris el perfeutu paluridiu. La moccedá kis nuestros puelos arrienga lo palrá cumu si tratasi´l mesmu demöñu, no quieren sabé na´l idioma los sus padris.
Enconto, dendi “Abora” queremos amparalo, palralo, iscribio, ateclealo, cogechalo…por que es un piazu emportantisimu la nuestra idintidá cultural, por que semos hereos dun gran tresöru cumu puëlu milenäriu…i el homildi, nuestru, arrisisti.
