Death of a language: How India's Bo disappeared | BBC News India

In 2010, one of the oldest languages in the world died after the death of its last remaining speaker, a woman called Boa Senior.

For 40 years, Boa Senior, a resident of the Andaman islands, was the only person who spoke the Bo language. Before her death, linguist Prof Anvita Abbi spent years attempting to learn the dying language.

Without family or friends who understood her, Boa took to speaking to birds - she said they were her ancestors. Eventually she opened up to Prof Abbi, singing songs and sharing ancient tales.

Prof Abbi was the first and last person to record Boa's voice. In a recent episode of the BBC's Witness History podcast, Prof Abbi talked to Natasha Fernandes about her interactions with Boa.

This video was first published by BBC World Service on 7 March.

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