http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8498534.stm
By Alastair Lawson
BBC News Boa Sr
Boa Sr remained the last Bo speaker for at least 30 yearsThe last speaker of an ancient language in India's Andaman Islands has died at the age of about 85, a leading linguist has told the BBC. Professor Anvita Abbi said that the death of Boa Sr was highly significant because one of the world's oldest languages - Bo - had come to an end.She said that India had lost an irreplaceable part of its heritage. Languages in the Andamans are thought to originate from Africa. Some may be 70,000 years old.Professor Abbi - who runs the Vanishing Voices of the Great Andamanese (Voga) website - explained: "After the death of her parents, Boa was the last Bo speaker for 30 to 40 years. So, ''Bo'' is much older than ''Thamil''. ''Thamil'' is a South Indian language of which Thamil poets and pandits tell us ''Thamil'' is the 'best' language in the whole world, despite its short comings. Thamil has no letters to represent the sounds ''B'', ''G'' and ''F''.Thamil classical music was written and sung in Telugu for centuries.Whereas the ''Sinhala'', the sister language in Sri Lanka has the alphabets that represent ''B'' and
and ''G'' and the wise persons of Sinhala language have innovated to form the equivalent character
for ''F'' sound.We believe some Tamil innovators are being impeded in efforts to find suitable letter to write ''F'' sound by many jealous Tamil Pandits. Progress and improvements cannot be, unless short falls are spotted and openly acknowledged !Will the ''pure'' Thamil fanatics accept this fact of progressiveness !
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