ÜDS-Sosyal 2005-1 Soru=57

We learn from the passage that four of the local languages used in Papua New Guinea were lost----.

The reasons for language death range from
natural disasters to different forms of cultural
assimilation. Small communities in isolated areas
can easily be wiped out by earthquakes,
hurricanes, tsunamis and other natural disasters.
On 17th July 1998, a 7.1 magnitude earthquake
off the coast of Papua New Guinea killed more
than 2.2Q0 people and displaced a further 10,000
people. Many villages were destroyed; and some
30% of the villagers were killed. The people in
these villages had been identified as being
sufficiently different from each other in their
speech to justify the recognition of four separate
languages, but the numbers were very small.
Moreover, as the survivors moved away to care
centers and other locations, these communities
and thus their languages could not survive the
trauma of displacement.