| Description |
ix, 364 p. ; 22 cm. |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (p. 335-345) and index. |
| Contents |
Languages and life. Languages, providers of life -- Languages, living species -- Language and speech -- Words and the struggle for life -- Languages and death. What is a dead language? -- The paths to extinction -- The battalion of causes -- Taking stock -- Factors in preservation and the struggle against disaster -- Languages and resurrection. Hebrew -- From life to death and from death to life -- New languages, Creoles, promotions. |
| Language |
Translated from the French. |
| Summary |
Twenty-five languages die each year; at this pace, half the world's five thousand languages will disappear within the next century. In this book, the author seeks to make clear the magnitude of the cultural loss represented by the crisis of language death. By focusing on the relationship of language to culture and the world of ideas, the author shows how languages are themselves crucial repositories of culture; the traditions, proverbs, and knowledge of our ancestors reside in the language we use. His examination covers all continents and language families to uncover not only how languages die, but also how they can be revitalized--for example in the remarkable case of Hebrew. |
| Subject |
Language obsolescence.
|
|
Language revival.
|
| Added Author |
Gladding, Jody, 1955-
|
| ISBN |
9780300137330 |
|
0300137338 |
|
9782738108970 |
|
