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Sat 04 Apr 2007Bob's big book of many tonguesPresent Tense:On the northern coast of Australia, in a remote land near the Timor Sea, live the last two native speakers of the language of the Mati Ke tribe. Patrick and Agatha are brother and sister, and their language is structured in a way quite different from ours. Objects are arranged into one of 10 noun classes. Weapons, for instance, are in the same class as lightning. Space and time go together. Apparently it's really something to hear. But it is rarely heard, because Patrick and Agatha do not speak to each other. Haven't done for 50 years.Their tribe's customs forbid communication between a brother and sister after puberty. And they will go to their deaths, and maybe that of their language, without so much as uttering the Mati Ke word for "goodbye".