Search Results

Digital Transmission of Language and Culture: Rethinking Pedagogical Models for E‐Learning

D. Victoria Rau and Meng‐Chien Yang

in Endangered Languages of Austronesia

This chapter discusses the development of e-learning materials for Yami, an endangered Austronesian language of Taiwan. It outlines their pedagogical model that integrates digital archiving with ... More

This chapter discusses the development of e-learning materials for Yami, an endangered Austronesian language of Taiwan. It outlines their pedagogical model that integrates digital archiving with e-learning with the goal of revitalising and maintaining the endangered language. It argues that computers and the Internet present new opportunities for the preservation and transmission of endangered languages and cultures, both inside the language community and around the world.Less

Village Sign Languages: A Commentary

Ulrike Zeshan

in Deaf around the World: The Impact of Language

The study of village sign languages is at the forefront of new approaches to developing a typology of languages. Indeed, recent research has shown that the study of village sign disconfirms some of ... More

The study of village sign languages is at the forefront of new approaches to developing a typology of languages. Indeed, recent research has shown that the study of village sign disconfirms some of our previously held assumptions about the linguistic structure of sign languages based on the study of the better-known sign languages of Europe and North America (such as that they all use classifiers — Adamorobe Sign Language does not). Further, village sign languages present distinct sociolinguistic contexts that are instructive to study with respect to understanding language contact issues. Finally, the endangered status of these languages raises philosophical questions about the nature of human language.Less

Language in Education: Context and Complexity

Jacqueline Mowbray

in Linguistic Justice: International Law and Language Policy

Drawing on literature from a variety of disciplines, and informed by the theoretical framework of Pierre Bourdieu, this chapter identifies a range of injustices associated with using some languages, ... More

Drawing on literature from a variety of disciplines, and informed by the theoretical framework of Pierre Bourdieu, this chapter identifies a range of injustices associated with using some languages, rather than others, in education. It then considers the role which international law may play in addressing such injustices. It examines, in particular, minority rights law, human rights to education and non-discrimination, and law on the protection of endangered and minority languages. The final section of the chapter considers language use in education within the broader context of globalisation, and explores the potential impact of international trade law in this respect. Ultimately this analysis demonstrates that international law does not fully account for the complexity and context-dependence of questions of language in education, and that this limits international law’s contribution to linguistic justice.Less

Some Observations on Research Methodology in Lexicostatistical Studies of Sign Languages

James Woodward

in Deaf around the World: The Impact of Language

This chapter gives an overview of how historical linguists classify languages into families. While the comparative method and internal reconstruction are preferable when abundant data are available, ... More

This chapter gives an overview of how historical linguists classify languages into families. While the comparative method and internal reconstruction are preferable when abundant data are available, the limited data on sign languages indicate that lexicostatistics is the most useful method. This method is made reliable by using the Swadesh word list revised appropriately for sign languages. Languages can have multiple ancestors, that is, languages that have contributed significantly to the daughters (thus creolization is included). The history of sign languages must be studied, not assumed, in order to be understood. An examination of families of signs in Southeast Asia and Central America alerts us to the endangered status of indigenous sign languages, often at the hand of ASL.Less

Languages of the Amazon: a bird's-eye view

Alexandra Y. Aikhenvald

in The Languages of the Amazon

We define the limits of Amazonia, and focus on a potted history of peopling of Amazonia and the issue of how many original inhabitants there were before the disastrous effects of the European ... More

We define the limits of Amazonia, and focus on a potted history of peopling of Amazonia and the issue of how many original inhabitants there were before the disastrous effects of the European Invasion. Environment and subsistence and social structures are briefly discussed. We then turn to the classification of Amazonian languages, names of languages and names of families and the issue of new lingue franche which have emerged since the Invasion. We then turn to profiles and brief histories of major language families—Arawak, Tupí, Carib, Panoan, Tucanoan and Macro‐Jê, smaller families and isolates. We include information on peoples' migrations. Many of Amazonian languages are endangered. The chapter concludes with a brief appreciation of the future of Amazonian languages and Amazonian studies. Appendix to this chapter (Amazonian words) contains a list of most commonly used borrowings from Amazonian languages (from the Arawak, Tupí‐Guaraní and Carib languages) in English (such as canoe, tobacco, hurricane and tapioca). A separate box insert lists the most important events in the history of Amazonian languages. There is a list of further sources on Amazonian languages.Less

An Extinction of (Ideas about) Species

K. David Harrison

in When Languages Die: The Extinction of the World's Languages and the Erosion of Human Knowledge

This chapter begins by discussing that most of the endangered languages were never written. It stresses that in order to preserve knowledge or language, one must put them into writing. It then ... More

This chapter begins by discussing that most of the endangered languages were never written. It stresses that in order to preserve knowledge or language, one must put them into writing. It then presents evidence from specialised knowledge domains—plants and animals—unique to the environments where speakers of endangered languages live. It argues that what these languages do is much more simply naming the menagerie, calling lion and tiger by their names. It adds that these languages afford strategies of packaging information, organising it into hierarchies and embedding it with names. It highlights that the longer a particular people have inhabited and made use of an ecological niche and practiced a particular way of life, the more likely they will have applied their linguistic genius to describing that ecosystem. It states that naming showcases human creativity and demonstrates a flair for dramatic metaphor.Less

Africa’s Endangered Languages: An Overview

Jason Kandybowicz and Harold Torrence

in Africa's Endangered Languages: Documentary and Theoretical Approaches

This chapter provides an overview of language endangerment in sub-Saharan Africa, highlighting previous efforts to document the continent’s endangered languages and ascertain their threat levels, the ... More

This chapter provides an overview of language endangerment in sub-Saharan Africa, highlighting previous efforts to document the continent’s endangered languages and ascertain their threat levels, the unique state of language endangerment in Africa as compared to other parts of the world, and the challenges to documentation and revitalization efforts posed by Africa’s endangered languages. As a consequence of these challenges, a disproportionately low amount of research and funding is devoted to the study of endangered African languages when compared to any other linguistically threatened region in the world. We propose nurturing synergistic partnerships between documentary and theoretical linguists researching endangered African languages to stimulate and enhance the depth, visibility, and impact of endangered African language research in the hope of reversing this trend.Less

Researching endangered languages: Critical reflections on field and documentary linguistics

Bettina Migge

in Colonial and Decolonial Linguistics: Knowledges and Epistemes

There are different traditions that focus on ‘capturing’ endangered languages such as field linguistics and documentary linguistics. They position themselves somewhat differently to the language or ... More

There are different traditions that focus on ‘capturing’ endangered languages such as field linguistics and documentary linguistics. They position themselves somewhat differently to the language or practices they aim to represent, their user community(/ies), and the nature of the enterprise. Focusing on aspects such as research goals, methods, outcomes, and agents, this chapter examines the similarities and differences between these traditions to uncover their ideological underpinnings based on an assessment of (classic) training manuals or guides. Despite critical voices and changes in these traditions, both remain preoccupied with amassing data to feed Northern scientific activities, notions such as objectivity, representativeness, replicability, and, among other things, asymmetries between speakers’ and researchers’ interests are not resolved. Change has not fundamentally transformed the research paradigm on endangered languages, freeing it from its colonial origins, because there is a reluctance among linguists to embrace reflexivity as part of their research process.Less

Finale: the treasures of Amazonian languages

Alexandra Y. Aikhenvald

in The Languages of the Amazon

This chapter summarises the main point of the book, focusing on linguistic and biological diversity in Amazonia.

Broader horizons: Beyond lexical semantics

Cliff Goddard and Anna Wierzbicka

in Words and Meanings: Lexical Semantics Across Domains, Languages, and Cultures

This chapter begins by emphasising the importance of words and meanings in people’s lives, drawing on literature; in particular, on the literature of bilingual experience. It then looks outwards from ... More

This chapter begins by emphasising the importance of words and meanings in people’s lives, drawing on literature; in particular, on the literature of bilingual experience. It then looks outwards from the lexicon and surveys some of the ways in which the tools of semantic analysis can be used for exploring cultural norms and values, for clarifying thinking in the human sciences, and for helping to document and conserve unique human concepts embedded in the lexicons of endangered languages.Less

Sámi, Language of the Far North: Encounters with Norwegian, Swedish, and Finnish

Ruth H. Sanders

in The Languages of Scandinavia: Seven Sisters of the North

The Sámi may be the first, or aboriginal, people of the post-Ice-Age Arctic Alpine region—northernmost Fennoscandia and northwestern Russia. No clear evidence exists that proves they were the first ... More

The Sámi may be the first, or aboriginal, people of the post-Ice-Age Arctic Alpine region—northernmost Fennoscandia and northwestern Russia. No clear evidence exists that proves they were the first settlers, but neither is there evidence or even claims that any other people were the first. From early times, the Sámi have influenced, and been influenced by, languages, traditions and practices of the other peoples of the North. The chapter offers a brief history and discussion of the modern Sámi people, both in traditional Sámi territory and in the urban centers of Mainland Scandinavia. It also describes and samples some varieties of the Sámi language in Norway, Sweden, and Finland.Less

Life Expectancy

Jeffrey Shandler

in Yiddish: Biography of a Language

The chapter examines the discourse of Yiddish as an endangered or dying language, which emerges at the turn of the twentieth century. This discourse reflects a range of anxieties about Jewish ... More

The chapter examines the discourse of Yiddish as an endangered or dying language, which emerges at the turn of the twentieth century. This discourse reflects a range of anxieties about Jewish cultural and demographic continuity as much as it addresses concerns about language use. Yiddish has also been characterized as a spectral presence in other languages, including Dutch, Esperanto, German, and Israeli Hebrew. In defiance of the trope of Yiddish as a dying language, contemporary postvernacular engagements with Yiddish in particular present new possibilities for contemplating the future of Yiddish, including the value of understanding Yiddish in the modern period as thriving on discontinuity.Less

The Nata Documentation Project: An Overview

Joash J. Gambarage, Andrei Anghelescu, Strang Burton, Joel Dunham, Erin Guntly, Hermann Keupdjio, Zoe Wai-Man Lam, Adriana Osa-Gomez, Douglas Pulleyblank, Dayanqi Si, Yoshiko Yoshino, and Rose-Marie Déchaine

in Africa's Endangered Languages: Documentary and Theoretical Approaches

This chapter introduces the research context of three chapters in this volume (Anghelescu et al., Déchaine et al., Gambarage & Pulleyblank), all of which discuss an aspect of the grammar of Nata ... More

This chapter introduces the research context of three chapters in this volume (Anghelescu et al., Déchaine et al., Gambarage & Pulleyblank), all of which discuss an aspect of the grammar of Nata (Guthrie E45), an under-described Eastern Bantu language spoken in Tanzania. This overview also presents issues that situate the theme of these papers within the larger context of the documentation of endangered languages.Less