Guerin, Valerie, and Yourupi, Paulina (2017) Language Endangerment. In: Sato, Hiroko, and Bradshaw, Joel, (eds.) Languages of the Pacific Islands: Introductory Readings. CreateSpace Independent Publishing, pp. 209-219.

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Abstract

In today's world, where the advent of social networking and the fast paced development of globalization reduce physical distance between people, one may wonder why linguists (and other scientists such as anthropologists or ethnobotanists) spend a lot of time and effort trying to salvage information on languages spoken by a handful of people or why these scientists lament over the fact that some languages (and other types of cultural knowledge) are on the verge of extinction. After all, wouldn't we all be better off ifwe spoke a single language? To answer this question, we will first define what it means for a language to be endangered and lay out the causes of endangerment. We will then take a brief look at linguistic diversity worldwide and, zooming in on the Pacific, we will see how language endangerment affects this area in particular. Finally, we will review some of the arguments that have been proposed in the literature to support or reject the idea that it is important to conserve linguistic diversity

Item ID:	60478
Item Type:	Book Chapter (Teaching Material)
ISBN:	978-1544239224
Keywords:	causes of language endangerment , linguistic diversity, endangered Pacific languages
Copyright Information:	With one exception, the chapters in this textbook are licensed under Creative Commons BY 4.0 (Attribution 4.0 International), which allows teachers to adapt each to the needs of their own students so long as they cite the names and affiliations of the original authors of each chapter. The exception is Chapter 14. Origins and Use of Hawaiian Pidgin, by Kent Sakoda and Jeff Siegel, which originally appeared in Pidgin grammar: An introduction to the creole language of Hawai'i, copyright© 2003 by Bess Press (Honolulu), which kindly granted pennission to include their chapter in this collection.
Additional Information:	This is a revised and expanded edition
Date Deposited:	29 Jul 2022 01:34
FoR Codes:	20 LANGUAGE, COMMUNICATION AND CULTURE > 2004 Linguistics > 200408 Linguistic Structures (incl Grammar, Phonology, Lexicon, Semantics) @ 100%
SEO Codes:	97 EXPANDING KNOWLEDGE > 970120 Expanding Knowledge in Language, Communication and Culture @ 100%
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