The language, known as Koro, belongs to the Tibeto-Burman language family, a group of around 400 languages that includes Tibetan and Burmese, the linguists said. Although around 150 Tibeto-Burman languages are spoken in India, the expedition team has been unable to identify any language closely related to Koro. Koro is so distinct from the others in the family. Before the expedition, the team had targeted the remote Arunachal Pradesh state in northeastern India as one of its "Language Hotspots" -- a place on the world map that cantains a large amount of languages, many unwritten, that are little studied or documented."On a scientist's tally sheet, Koro adds just one entry to the list of 6,909 languages worldwide…. But Koro's contribution is much greater than that tiny fraction would suggest," Harrison writes in "The Last Speakers," newly published by National Geographic Books. "
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