living-language-land is a journey through endangered and minority languages that reveal different ways of relating to land and nature. We’re sharing 26 words in the run-up to COP26 to give a global audience fresh inspiration for tackling our environmental crisis.

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‖Xéba

  • Language: Khwedam
  • Region: Northeastern Namibia
  • Contributor: ǂGakaci Thaddeus Chedau, Eu Yumbu Mboma, Willie Kamwanga Kasera
African wild dog
perro salvaje africano
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Maloka

  • Language: Murui (Uitoto)
  • Region: Amazon region, Colombia
  • Contributor: Emperatriz López of the Murui Muina people
Ancestral longhouse
Casa comunal ancestral
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Ïe cho

  • Language: Muysk kubun
  • Region: Central Colombia
  • Contributor: Cesar Sánchez León, Comunidad Muisca CONA, Pedagogías Ancestrales
Good path
Buen camino; buen vivir
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Aibidil

  • Language: Gaelic
  • Region: Western Scotland
  • Contributor: Malcolm Maclean
Alphabet
Alfabeto
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Kyká

  • Language: Muysk kubun
  • Region: Central Colombia
  • Contributor: Nicolás Acosta, Cesar Sanchéz León, Diana Castillo, Stefanny Contreras, Michael Ramírez
world; town; story; region
mundo; pueblo; historia (narración); región
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No word

  • Language: No indigenous language
  • Region: Brunt Ice Shelf, Antarctica
  • Contributor: Neville Gabie
(A continent without words)
(Un continente sin palabras)
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Tuuca Orodji

  • Language: Khwedam
  • Region: Northeastern Namibia
  • Contributor: ǂGakaci Thaddeus Chedau, Mbo
Rainwater pan
piscina de agua lluvia
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Itrofillmongen

  • Language: Mapudungun
  • Region: Lake Budi, Mapuche Territory, Chile
  • Contributor: Fernando Quilaqueo, Environmental Association Budi Anumka
The tangible and intangible elements of the diversity of life
Los elementos tangibles e intangibles de la diversidad de vida
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Yii

  • Language: Khwedam
  • Region: Northeastern Namibia
  • Contributor: ǂGakaci Thaddeus Chedau, Ata Anita Maundu, Ue Gertrud Andreas, Willie Kamwanga Kasera
Tree, wood, medicinal plant
Árbol, madera, planta medicinal
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ས་བདག or Sardak

  • Language: Ladakhi
  • Region: Ladakh, India
  • Contributor: Tsetan Angmo and Padma Rigzin featuring the sardaks of Ladakh
the ancestors and owners of the land
los antepasados ​​y dueños de la tierra
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Agranada or Mangrana

  • Language: Ladino (Judeo-Spanish)
  • Region: Sephardic Jews of the Mediterranean
  • Contributor: Güler Orgun and Derya Agis
Pomegranate
La Granada
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|Xau

  • Language: ǀXam
  • Region: Southern Africa
  • Contributor: Sylvia Vollenhoven, Virginia MacKenny and collaborators
to shoot with a magical arrow or go on a magical expedition
disparar con una flecha mágica o realizar una expedición mágica
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Siwa

  • Language: Muysk Kubun
  • Region: Central Colombia
  • Contributor: Diana Castillo, Stefanny Contreras, Michael Ramírez
pond; lake; adult woman’s vagina
laguna; lago; vagina (de mujer adulta)
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Danbwa

  • Language: Kreol Morisien
  • Region: Mauritius
  • Contributor: Helina Hookoomsing and Shameem Oozeerally
in the woods; wild overgrowth; wilderness
en el bosque; crecimiento excesivo salvaje; desierto
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Hyká

  • Language: Muysk Kubun
  • Region: Central Colombia
  • Contributor: Diana Castillo and Michael Ramírez, COMUNIDAD MUISCA CONA, PEDAGOGÍAS ANCESTRALES
name; stone; speech
nombre; piedra; habla
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Gagaw

  • Language: Higaonon
  • Region: Northern Mindanao, Philippines
  • Contributor: Datu Lanelio Sangcoan
love; the universal principle
amor; el principio universal
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Wíyukčaŋ

  • Language: Lakota
  • Region: Great Plains, Central United States
  • Contributor: Tiokasin Ghosthorse
Consciousness; knowing
Conciencia; conocimiento
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Morfa

  • Language: Welsh
  • Region: Wales, UK
  • Contributor: Elinor Gwynn
a place of, near or shaped by the sea
un lugar de, cerca o moldeado por el mar
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Chalay

  • Language: Quechua
  • Region: Peruvian Andes
  • Contributor: The communities of the Pisaq Potato Park and the Chalakuy Maize Park
The practice of barter and exchange
La práctica del trueque e intercambio
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Tamposati

  • Language: Asháninka
  • Region: Junín Region, Peruvian Amazon
  • Contributor: Yessica Sánchez Comanti
Those born in the Rio Tambo
Los nacidos en el Río Tambo
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Scrogs

  • Language: The Doric
  • Region: Northeast Scotland
  • Contributor: Arthur Watson
brushwood or undergrowth; stunted or crooked bush or tree
maleza; arbusto o árbol atrofiado o torcido
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Kallpa Warmi

  • Language: Quechua
  • Region: Ayacucho, Peruvian Andes
  • Contributor: Violeta Quispe with Chirapaq
Women's strength
Fuerza mujer
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پفّ or śaff

  • Language: Mehri
  • Region: Southern Oman
  • Contributor: Janet Watson, Abdullah al-Mahri, Khalid Ruweya al-Mahri, Faisal al-Mahri, Ali al-Mahri, Said Baquir
track; print; unexpectedly, it turns out to be
pista; huella; inesperadamente, resulta ser
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Tshinanu

  • Language: Nehluen, Innu language
  • Region: Nitassinan - a territory that spreads from the south-west of Quebec, to the north-eastern coast of Labrador, Canada
  • Contributor: Marie-Emilie Lacroix (Missinak Kameltoutasset)
The inclusive ‘we’ - all as equals
El "nosotros" inclusivo: todos como iguales
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Coble

  • Language: Northumbrian Coastal Speech
  • Region: Northumbrian Coast, UK
  • Contributor: Katrina Porteous and Northumbrian fisher families
A traditional open wooden fishing boat built without a keel
Un barco de pesca de madera abierto tradicional construido sin quilla
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Napuro

  • Language: Cuyonon
  • Region: Cuyo Islands, Philippines
  • Contributor: Aldrin Lee
a forest that looks like ‘an island within an island’
un bosque que parece "una isla dentro de una isla"
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English (UK)
Español de Colombia English (UK)