At least half of the seven thousand or so languages spoken today are in danger of disappearing during the 21st century. Although languages have always come and gone, the current rate of language extinction is unprecedented, a loss which not only affects individual communities but also diminishes the world's linguistic heritage. This crisis has stimulated a variety of responses from linguists: sociolinguists have been concerned with the study of language revitalisation—how the tendency to shift away from minority languages can be reversed—while general linguists have paid more attention to the structural aspects of language endangerment—how languages change as they fall into disuse. In recent years linguists have been particularly concerned with language documentation—the activity of recording, annotating, translating and archiving audiovisual materials of languages before they are lost. In addition, all linguists working on endangered languages face the ethical question of how much effort they should devote to non-academic activities in support of the communities with whom they work.
The study of language endangerment has only really become a concern of mainstream linguistics in the past twenty years, and this four-volume collection is the first of its kind, bringing together research on language endangerment from leading scholars. Theoretical and practical responses by linguists have led to the emergence of the linguistic sub-fields of language documentation and language revitalisation, and most of the publications within them date from just the last ten years. There has however been a veritable flood of books and articles during this time, and an enormous flowering of interest both within academia and in the wider community as well. Twenty years ago an extensive collection on this topic could not have been put together.
A general introduction by the editors gives an overview of the history of research on endangered languages and the main issues faced by scholars of language endangerment today, while specific volume introductions detail the research context for the individual articles. Endangered Languages is an essential one-stop work of reference and will be appreciated by researchers and students of language endangerment and related disciplines.
VOLUME I: BEGINNINGS
Part 1: Language Obsolescence and Death
1. Morris Swadesh, ‘Sociologic Notes on Obsolescent Languages’, International Journal of American Linguistics, 1948, 14, 226–35.
2. Joshua Fishman, ‘Language Maintenance and Language Shift as a Field of Inquiry’, Linguistics, 1964, 9, 32–70.
3. Joshua Fishman, ‘Who Speaks What Language to Whom and When?’, La Linguistique, 1965, 2, 67–88.
4. Nancy C. Dorian, ‘The Problem of the Semi-Speaker in Language Death’, International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 1977, 12, 23–32.
5. Norman Denison, ‘Language Death or Language Suicide?’, International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 1977, 12, 13–22.
6. Wolfgang Dressler and Ruth Wodak-Leodolter, ‘Language Preservation and Language Death in Brittany’, International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 1977, 12, 33–44.
7. Hans-Jurgen Sasse, ‘Theory of Language Death’, in Matthias Brenzinger (ed.), Language Death: Factual and Theoretical Explorations with Special Reference to East Africa (Mouton de Gruyter, 1992), pp. 7–30.
8. Salikoko S. Mufwene, ‘Language Birth and Death’, Annual Review of Anthropology, 2004, 33, 201–22.
Part 2: Structural Changes
9. Nancy C. Dorian, ‘Grammatical Change in a Dying Dialect’, Language, 1973, 49, 2, 413–38.
10. Jane Hill and Kenneth Hill, ‘Language Death and Relexification in Tlaxcalan Nahuatl’, Linguistics, 1977, 12, 55–67.
11. Jane H. Hill, ‘Language Death in Uto-Aztecan’, International Journal of American Linguistics, 1983, 49, 3, 258–76.
12. Annette Schmidt, ‘The Fate of Ergativity in Dying Dyirbal’, Language, 1985, 61, 2, 378–96.
13. Peter K. Austin, ‘Structural Change in Language Obsolescence: Some Eastern Australian Examples’, Australian Journal of Linguistics, 1986, 6, 2, 201–30.
14. Lyle Campbell and Martha C. Muntzell, ‘The Structural Consequences of Language Death’, in Nancy C. Dorian (ed.), Investigating Obsolescence: Studies in Language Contraction and Death (Cambridge University Press, 1989), pp. 181–96.
15. Robert E. Moore, ‘Lexicalization Versus Lexical Loss in Wasco-Wishram Language Obsolescence’, International Journal of American Linguistics, 1988, 54, 4, 453–68.
16. Susan Gal, ‘Lexical Innovation and Loss: The Use and Value of Restricted Hungarian’, in Nancy C. Dorian (ed.), Investigating Obsolescence: Studies in Language Contraction and Death (Cambridge University Press, 1989), pp. 313–31.
Part 3: Implications of Language Loss
17. Ken Hale et al., ‘Endangered Languages’, Language, 1992, 68, 1, 1–42.
18. Peter Ladefoged, ‘Another View of Endangered Languages’, Language, 1992, 68, 4, 809–11.
19. Nancy C. Dorian, ‘A Response to Ladefoged’s Other View of Endangered Languages’, Language, 1993, 69, 3, 575–9.
20. Ken Hale, ‘Some Observations on the Contributions of Local Languages to Linguistic Science’, Lingua, 1997, 100, 71–89.
21. Marianne Mithun, ‘The Significance of Diversity in Language Endangerment and Preservation’, in Lenore A. Grenoble and Lindsay J. Whaley (eds.), Endangered Languages: Current Issues and Future Prospects (Cambridge University Press, 1998), pp. 163–91.
22. Anthony C. Woodbury, ‘Documenting Rhetorical, Aesthetic, and Expressive Loss in Language Shift, in Lenore A. Grenoble and Lindsay J. Whaley (eds.), Endangered Languages: Current Issues and Future Prospects (Cambridge University Press, 1998), pp. 234–58.
23. Kenan Malik, ‘Let Them Die’, Prospect, 2000, 57.
24. Luisa Maffi, ‘Linguistic, Cultural, and Biological Diversity’, Annual Review of Anthropology, 2005, 34, 599–617.
25. Paul B. Garrett, ‘Contact Languages as "Endangered" Languages: What is There to Lose?’, Journal of Pidgin and Creole Languages, 2006, 21, 1, 175–90.
Volume II: Language Documentation
Part 1: Defining Language Documentation
26. Joel Sherzer, ‘A Discourse-Centered Approach to Language and Culture’, American Anthropologist, 1987, 89, 2, 295–309.
27. Nikolaus P. Himmelmann, ‘Documentary and Descriptive Linguistics’, in Osamu Sakiyama and Fubito Endo (eds.), Lectures on Endangered Languages, 2002, 5, 37–83.
28. Steven Bird and Gary Simons, ‘Seven Dimensions of Portability for Language Documentation and Description’, Language, 2003, 79, 3, 557–82.
Part 2: Data in Language Documentation
29. Heidi Johnson, ‘Language Documentation and Archiving, or How to Build a Better Corpus’, in Peter K. Austin (ed.), Language Documentation and Description, Vol. 2 (Hans Rausing Endangered Languages Project, 2004), pp. 140–53.
30. Christian Lehmann, ‘Data in Linguistics’, Linguistic Review, 2004, 21, 3–4, 175–210.
31. David Nathan and Peter K. Austin, ‘Reconceiving Metadata: Language Documentation through Thick and Thin’, in Peter K. Austin (ed.), Language Documentation and Description, Vol. 2 (Hans Rausing Endangered Languages Project, 2004), pp. 179–87.
Part 3: Documentation Methods
32. William A. Foley, ‘Genre, Register, and Language Documentation in Literate and Preliterate Communities’, in Peter K. Austin (ed.), Language Documentation and Description, Vol. 1 (Hans Rausing Endangered Languages Project, 2003), pp. 85–98.
33. Ulrike Mosel, ‘Dictionary-Making in Endangered Speech Communities’, in Peter K. Austin (ed.), Language Documentation and Description, Vol. 2 (Hans Rausing Endangered Languages Project, 2004), pp. 39–54.
34. Linda Barwick, ‘A Musicologist’s Wish List: Some Issues, Practices and Practicalities in Musical Aspects of Language Documentation’, in Peter K. Austin (ed.), Language Documentation and Description, Vol. 3 (Hans Rausing Endangered Languages Project, 2005), pp. 53–62.
35. Nicholas Thieberger and Simon Musgrave, ‘Documentary Linguistics and Ethical Issues’, in Peter K. Austin (ed.), Language Documentation and Description, Vol. 4 (Hans Rausing Endangered Languages Project, 2006), pp. 26–37.
36. Nick Evans and Hans-Juergen Sasse, ‘Searching for Meaning in the Library of Babel: Field Semantics and the Problems of Digital Archiving’, in Peter K. Austin (ed.), Language Documentation and Description, Vol. 4 (Hans Rausing Endangered Languages Project, 2006), pp. 58–99.
37. Marianne Mithun, ‘What is a Language? Documentation for Diverse and Evolving Audiences’, Sprachtypologie und Universalienforschung, 2007, 60, 1, 42–55.
38. Friederike Luepke, ‘Data Collection Methods for Field-Based Language Documentation’, in Peter K. Austin (ed.), Language Documentation and Description, Vol. 6 (Hans Rausing Endangered Languages Project, 2009), pp. 53–100.
39. Lise M. Dobrin, Peter K. Austin, and David Nathan, ‘Dying to be Counted: The Commodification of Endangered Languages in Documentary Linguistics, in Peter K. Austin (ed.), Language Documentation and Description, Vol. 6 (Hans Rausing Endangered Languages Project, 2009), pp. 37–52.
Volume III: Language Planning and Case Studies in Revitalization
Part 1: Language Planning Models
40. Joshua A. Fishman, ‘What is Reversing Language Shift (RLS) and How Can it Succeed?’, Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 1990, 11, 1–2, 5–36.
41. Suzanne Romaine, ‘Planning for the Survival of Linguistic Diversity’, Language Policy, 2006, 5, 4, 441–73.
42. Einar Haugen, ‘The Ecology of Language’, The Linguistic Reporter, 1971, 25, 19–26.
43. Harald Haarmann, ‘Language Planning in the Light of a General Theory of Language: A Methodological Framework’, International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 1990, 86, 103–26.
44. John Edwards, ‘Sociopolitical Aspects of Language Maintenance and Loss: Towards a Typology of Minority Language Situations’, in Willem Fase, Koen Jaspaert, and Sjaak Kroon (eds.), Maintenance and Loss of Minority Languages (John Benjamins), pp. 37–54.
45. Peter Mühlhäusler, ‘Language Planning and Language Ecology’, Current Issues in Language Planning, 2000, 1, 3, 306–67.
46. Abram de Swaan, ‘A Political Sociology of the World Language System’, Language Problems and Language Planning, 1998, 22, 1, 63–75 and 22, 2, 109–28.
Part 2: Case Studies in Revitalization
47. Bernard Spolsky, ‘Maori Bilingual Education and Language Revitalisation’, Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 1989, 10, 2, 89–106.
48. Bernard Spolsky, ‘Conditions for Language Revitalization: A Comparison of the Cases of Hebrew and Maori’, Current Issues in Language and Society, 1995, 2, 3, 177–201.
49. Mari C. Jones, ‘Death of a Language, Birth of an Identity: Brittany and the Bretons’, Language Problems and Language Planning, 1998, 22, 2, 129–42.
50. Lenore A. Grenoble and Lindsay J. Whaley, ‘Language Policy and the Loss of Tungusic Languages’, Language and Communication, 1999, 19, 4, 373–86.
51. Leanne Hinton, ‘Small Languages and Small Language Communities: Survival of Endangered Languages: The California Master-Apprentice Program’, International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 1997, 123, 177–91.
52. Hornberger and King, ‘Language Revitalisation in the Andes: Can the Schools Reverse Language Shift?’, Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 1996, 17, 6, 427–41.
53. Margaret Florey and Aone Van Engelenhoven, ‘Language Documentation and Maintenance Programs for Moluccan Languages in The Netherlands’, International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 2001, 151, 195–219.
54. Nora Marks and Richard Dauenhauer, ‘Technical, Emotional, and Ideological Issues in Reversing Language Shift: Examples from Southeast Alaska’, in Lenore A. Grenoble and Lindsay J. Whaley (eds.), Endangered Languages: Current Issues and Future Prospects (Cambridge University Press, 1998), pp. 57–98.
55. Julia Sallabank, ‘Prestige from the Bottom Up: A Review of Language Planning in Guernsey’, Current Issues in Language Planning, 2005, 6, 1, 44–63.
56. Suzanne Romaine, ‘The Impact of Language Policy on Endangered Languages’, International Journal on Multicultural Societies, 2002, 4, 2.
Volume IV: Issues in Revitalization and Challenges for Linguists
Part 1: General Issues in Revitalization
57. Abdelali Bentahila and Eirlys E. Davies, ‘Language Revival: Restoration or Transformation?’, Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 1993, 14, 5, 355–74.
58. Nancy C. Dorian, ‘The Value of Language-Maintenance Efforts Which are Unlikely to Succeed’, International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 1987, 68, 57–67.
59. Nicholas Thieberger, ‘Language Maintenance: Why Bother?’, Multilingua, 1990, 9, 4, 333–58.
60. Stephen May, ‘Rearticulating the Case for Minority Language Rights’, Current Issues in Language Planning, 2003, 4, 2, 95–125.
61. Nancy C. Dorian, ‘Purism vs. Compromise in Language Revitalization and Language Revival’, Language in Society, 1994, 23, 4, 479–94.
62. Margaret Florey, ‘Countering Purism: Confronting the Emergence of New Varieties in a Training Program for Community Language Workers’, in Peter K. Austin (ed.), Language Documentation and Description, Vol. 2 (Hans Rausing Endangered Languages Project, 2004), pp. 9–27.
63. Alexandra Y. Aikhenvald, ‘Language Awareness and Correct Speech Among the Tariana of Northeast Amazonia’, Anthropological Linguistics, 2001, 43, 4, 411–30.
64. Joshua Fishman, ‘If Threatened Languages can be Saved, then can Dead Languages be Revived?’, Current Issues in Language Planning, 2001, 2, 2–3, 222–30.
Part 2: Challenges for Linguists
65. Lise M. Dobrin, ‘From Linguistic Elicitation to Eliciting the Linguist: Lessons in Community Empowerment from Melanesia’, Language, 2008, 84, 2, 300–24.
66. Ken Hale, ‘Some Questions about Anthropological Linguistics: The Role of Native Knowledge’, in Dell Hymes (ed.), Reinventing Anthropology (Random House, 1969), pp. 382–97.
67. Paul Newman, ‘We has Seen the Enemy and it is Us: The Endangered Languages Issue as a Hopeless Cause’, Studies in the Linguistic Sciences, 1998, 28, 2, 11–20.
68. David Wilkins, ‘Even with the Best Intentions: Some Pitfalls in the Fight for Linguistic and Cultural Survival (One View of the Australian Experience)’, in F. Queixalos and O. Renault-Lescure (eds.), As Linguas Amazônicas Hoje (IRD, 2000), pp. 61–81.
69. Salikoko S. Mufwene, ‘Colonisation, Globalisation, and the Future of Languages in the Twenty-First Century’, International Journal on Multicultural Societies, 2002, 4, 2, 162–93.
70. Jane H. Hill, ‘"Expert Rhetorics" in Advocacy for Endangered Languages: Who is Listening, and What do they Hear?’, Journal of Linguistic Anthropology, 2002, 12, 2, 119–33.
71. Nancy C. Dorian et al., ‘Commentary on Hill’, Journal of Linguistic Anthropology, 2002, 12, 2, 134–56.
72. Nancy C. Dorian, ‘Shared Expertise and Experiences in Support of Small Languages’, International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 1995, 114, 129–37.
73. Nikolaus P. Himmelmann, ‘Reproduction and Preservation of Linguistic Knowledge: Linguistics’ Response to Language Endangerment’, Annual Review of Anthropology, 2008, 37, 337–50.
Part 3: Endangered Languages in the Future
74. Trevor Johnston, ‘W(h)ither the Deaf Community? Population, Genetics, and the Future of Australian Sign Language’, Sign Language Studies, 2006, 6, 2, 137–73.
75. Michael Walsh, ‘Will Indigenous Languages Survive?’, Annual Review of Anthropology, 2005, 34, 293–315.
