Dying Words - Paperback

by Nicholas Evans (Author)

The next century will see more than half of the world's 6,000 languages become extinct, and most of these will disappear without being adequately recorded. Written by one of the leading figures in language documentation, this fascinating book explores what humanity stands to lose as a result.

• Explores the unique philosophy, knowledge, and cultural assumptions of languages, and their impact on our collective intellectual heritage
• Questions why such linguistic diversity exists in the first place, and how can we can best respond to the challenge of recording and documenting these fragile oral traditions while they are still with us
• Written by one of the leading figures in language documentation, and draws on a wealth of vivid examples from his own field experience
• Brings conceptual issues vividly to life by weaving in portraits of individual 'last speakers' and anecdotes about linguists and their discoveries

Back Jacket

The next century will see more than half of the world's 6,000 languages go extinct, and most of these will disappear without being adequately recorded. Yet each language contains its own philosophy, knowledge, and cultural assumptions. This compelling book asks what the cost is to our collective intellectual heritage with the death of these languages. It brings conceptual issues vividly to life by weaving in portraits of individual 'last speakers' and anecdotes about linguists and their discoveries.

In exploring what humanity stands to lose with the onset of massive language extinction, Dying Words considers a variety of connected issues: how can we can best respond to the challenge of recording and documenting these fragile oral traditions while they are still with us? Why does such linguistic diversity exist in the first place, and what can it tell us about the potential variation of languages? And what insights can these languages give us into history? Written by one of the leading figures in language documentation, Dying Words draws on a wealth of examples from Evans' own field experience to give us a fascinating insight into the field of endangered languages.

Author Biography

Nicholas Evans is Professor of Linguistics at the Australian National University and a fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities. He is on the editorial boards of the journals Linguistic Typology and Australian Journal of Linguistics, and on the Scientific Advisory Board of the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics in Nijmegen. He is the author of a number of books, including Bininj Gun-wok (2 volumes, 2001), Archaeology and Linguistics: Aboriginal Australia in Global Perspective (co-edited with Patrick McConvell, 1998), and A Grammar of Kayardild (1992).