Read more
Zusatztext a "splendid and disturbing book." Informationen zum Autor Daniel Nettle is the author The Fyem Language of Northern Nigeria and Linguistic Diversity (OUP). Suzanne Romaine is Merton Professor of English Language at the University of Oxford and is the author of Language in Society: An Introduction to Sociolinguistics (OUP) Klappentext Few people know that nearly one hundred native languages once spoken in what is now California are near extinction, or that most of Australia's 250 aboriginal languages have vanished. In fact, at least half of the world's languages may die out in the next century. Daniel Nettle and Suzanne Romaine assert that this trend is far more than simply disturbing. Making explicit the link between language survival and environmental issues, they argue that the extinction of languages is part of the larger picture of near-total collapse of the worldwide ecosystem.Indeed, the authors contend that the struggle to preserve precious environmental resources-such as the rainforest-cannot be separated from the struggle to maintain diverse cultures, and that the causes of language death, like that of ecological destruction, lie at the intersection of ecology andpolitics. In addition to defending the world's endangered languages, the authors also pay homage to the last speakers of dying tongues, such as Red Thundercloud, a Native American in South Carolina; Ned Mandrell, with whom the Manx language passed away in 1974; and Arthur Bennett, an Australian who wasthe last person to know more than a few words of Mbabaram. In our languages lies the accumulated knowledge of humanity. Indeed, each language is a unique window on experience. Vanishing Voices is a call to preserve this resource, before it is too late. Zusammenfassung Half of all known languages have disappeared in the last 500 years and 90 per cent of all languages are in danger of becoming extinct in the next 100. The authors argue that the loss of linguistic and biological diversity is part of a much larger problem - the collapse of our worldwide ecosystem. Inhaltsverzeichnis 1: Where have All the Languages Gone 2: A World of Diversity 3: Lost Words / Lost Worlds 4: The Ecology of Language 5: The Biological Wave 6: The Economic Wave 7: Why Something Should be Done 8: Sustainable Futures References and Further Reading Bibliography Index ...
Summary
Half of all known languages have disappeared in the last 500 years and 90 per cent of all languages are in danger of becoming extinct in the next 100. The authors argue that the loss of linguistic and biological diversity is part of a much larger problem - the collapse of our worldwide ecosystem.
