Languages on New Guinea vanish without a whisper

JAYAPURA, Indonesia - Who will speak Iniai in 2050? Or Faiwol? Moskona? Wahgi? Probably nobody, as the languages of New Guinea - the world's greatest linguistic reservoir - are disappearing in a tide of indifference.

Yoseph Wally, an anthropologist at Cendrawasih University in Jayapura, keeps his ears open when he visits villages to hear what language the locals are speaking.

"It's Indonesian more and more. Only the oldest people still speak in the local dialect," he said.