Africa S Endangered Languages

Author : Jason Kandybowicz,Harold Torrence
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 400 pages
File Size : 47,9 Mb
Release : 2017-07-10
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 9780190675288

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Africa's Endangered Languages by Jason Kandybowicz,Harold Torrence Pdf

Relatively little is known about Africa's endangered languages. Unlike indigenous languages in Australia, North Asia, and the Americas, which are predominantly threatened by colonizers, African languages are threatened most immediately by other local languages. As a result, the threat of language extinction is perceived as lower in Africa than in other parts of the globe, and a disproportionate amount of research is devoted to the study of endangered African languages when compared to any other linguistically threatened region in the world. There are approximately 308 highly endangered languages spoken in Africa (roughly 12% of all African languages) and at least 201 extinct African languages. This volume hopes to illuminate and challenge this trend. Chapters offer both documentary and theoretical perspectives, emphasizing the symbiotic relationship between the two approaches and its implications for the preservation of endangered languages, both in the African context and more broadly. Documentary-oriented chapters deal with key issues in African language documentation including language preservation and revitalization, community activism, and data collection and dissemination methodologies, among others. Theoretically-oriented chapters provide detailed descriptions and analyses of phonetic, phonological, morphological, syntactic, and semantic phenomena, and connect these to current theoretical issues and debates. Africa's Endangered Languages provides thorough coverage of a continent's neglected languages that will spur linguists and Africanists alike to work to protect them.

Author : Matthias Brenzinger
Publisher : R. Koppe
Page : 300 pages
File Size : 42,5 Mb
Release : 1998
Category : Foreign Language Study
ISBN : STANFORD:36105028616972

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Endangered Languages in Africa by Matthias Brenzinger Pdf

Author : James Essegbey,Brent Henderson,Fiona Mc Laughlin
Publisher : John Benjamins Publishing Company
Page : 317 pages
File Size : 44,5 Mb
Release : 2015-10-15
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 9789027268150

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Language Documentation and Endangerment in Africa by James Essegbey,Brent Henderson,Fiona Mc Laughlin Pdf

This volume brings together a number of important perspectives on language documentation and endangerment in Africa from an international cohort of scholars with vast experience in the field. Offering insights from rural and urban settings throughout the continent, these essays consider topics that range from the development of a writing system to ideologies of language endangerment, from working with displaced communities to the role of colonial languages in reshaping African repertoires, and from the insights of archeology to the challenges of language documentation as a doctoral project. The authors are concerned with both theoretical and practical aspects of language documentation as they address the ways in which the African context both differs from and resembles contexts of endangerment elsewhere in the world. This volume will be useful to fieldworkers and documentalists who work in Africa and beyond.

Author : Lenore A. Grenoble,Lindsay J. Whaley
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 384 pages
File Size : 54,6 Mb
Release : 1998-03-26
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 0521597129

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Endangered Languages by Lenore A. Grenoble,Lindsay J. Whaley Pdf

Provides an overview of the issues surrounding language loss.

Author : Herman Batibo
Publisher : Multilingual Matters
Page : 196 pages
File Size : 50,6 Mb
Release : 2005-01-01
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 1853598089

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Language Decline and Death in Africa by Herman Batibo Pdf

The aim of this book is to inform both scholars and the public about the nature and extent of the problem of language decline and death in Africa. It resourcefully traces the main causes and circumstances of language endangerment, the processes and extent of language shift and death, and the consequences of language loss to the continent's rich linguistic and cultural heritage. The book outlines some of the challenges that have emerged out of the situation.

Author : Matthias Brenzinger
Publisher : Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
Page : 472 pages
File Size : 51,9 Mb
Release : 2015-07-31
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 9783110905694

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Language Diversity Endangered by Matthias Brenzinger Pdf

This book presents a comprehensive overview of endangered languages with a global coverage. It features such well-known specialists as Michael Krauss, Willem F. H. Adelaar, Denny Moore, Colette Grinevald, Akira Yamamoto, Roger Blench, Bruce Connell, Tapani Salminen, Olga Kazakevich, Aleksandr Kibrik, Jonathan Owens, David Bradley, George van Driem, Nicholas Evans, Stephen A. Wurm, Darrell Tryon and Matthias Brenzinger. The contributions are unique in analysing the present extent and the various kinds of language endangerment by applying shared general indicators for the assessment of language endangerment. Apart from presenting the specific situations of language endangerment at the sub-continental level, the volume discusses major issues that bear universally on language endangerment. The actual study of endangered languages is carefully examined, for example, against the ethics and pragmatics of fieldwork. Practical aspects of community involvement in language documentation are discussed, such as the setting up of local archives and the training of local linguists. Numerous case studies illustrate different language shift environments with specific replacing factors, such as colonial and religious conquests, migrations and governmental language education. The book is of interest to students and scholars of linguistics with particular focus on endangered languages (and their documentation), typology, and sociolinguistics as well as to anthropologists and language activists.

Author : Jason Kandybowicz,Harold Torrence
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 400 pages
File Size : 41,9 Mb
Release : 2017-07-10
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 9780190256357

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Africa's Endangered Languages by Jason Kandybowicz,Harold Torrence Pdf

Relatively little is known about Africa's endangered languages. Unlike indigenous languages in Australia, North Asia, and the Americas, which are predominantly threatened by colonizers, African languages are threatened most immediately by other local languages. As a result, the threat of language extinction is perceived as lower in Africa than in other parts of the globe, and a disproportionate amount of research is devoted to the study of endangered African languages when compared to any other linguistically threatened region in the world. There are approximately 308 highly endangered languages spoken in Africa (roughly 12% of all African languages) and at least 201 extinct African languages. This volume hopes to illuminate and challenge this trend. Chapters offer both documentary and theoretical perspectives, emphasizing the symbiotic relationship between the two approaches and its implications for the preservation of endangered languages, both in the African context and more broadly. Documentary-oriented chapters deal with key issues in African language documentation including language preservation and revitalization, community activism, and data collection and dissemination methodologies, among others. Theoretically-oriented chapters provide detailed descriptions and analyses of phonetic, phonological, morphological, syntactic, and semantic phenomena, and connect these to current theoretical issues and debates. Africa's Endangered Languages provides thorough coverage of a continent's neglected languages that will spur linguists and Africanists alike to work to protect them.

Author : Lyle Campbell,Anna Belew
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 425 pages
File Size : 52,6 Mb
Release : 2018-02-02
Category : Foreign Language Study
ISBN : 9781317413899

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Cataloguing the World's Endangered Languages by Lyle Campbell,Anna Belew Pdf

Cataloguing the World’s Endangered Languages brings together the results of the extensive and influential Catalogue of Endangered Languages (ELCat) project. Based on the findings from the most extensive endangered languages research project, this is the most comprehensive source of accurate information on endangered languages. The book presents the academic and scientific findings that underpin the online Catalogue, located at www.endangeredlanguages.com, making it an essential companion to the website for academics and researchers working in this area. While the online Catalogue displays much data from the ELCat project, this volume develops and emphasizes aspects of the research behind the data and includes topics of great interest in the field, not previously covered in a single volume. Cataloguing the World’s Endangered Languages is an important volume of particular interest to academics and researchers working with endangered languages.

Author : Anika Kehl
Publisher : GRIN Verlag
Page : 47 pages
File Size : 49,9 Mb
Release : 2014-08-21
Category : Foreign Language Study
ISBN : 9783656724759

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Language Vitality in South Africa by Anika Kehl Pdf

Seminar paper from the year 2011 in the subject Didactics for the subject English - Pedagogy, Literature Studies, grade: 1,3, Ernst Moritz Arndt University of Greifswald (Anglistik/Amerikanistik), course: Hauptseminar: English in Contact, language: English, abstract: There are 24 languages which are regularly used by more than 44.8 million South Africans and almost 80 % of the South African population use one of the African languages at home. “The most commonly spoken home language is isiZulu, which is spoken by 23.8 % of the population, followed by isiXhosa (17.6 %) and Afrikaans (13.3 %)” Although English is the home language of only 8.2 % of the South African population it is still used as a lingua franca throughout the nation. The eleven official languages are used by 99% of the country’s population and those languages are all supposed to have equal rights. Belonging to these languages are English and Afrikaans, and nine other African languages: “Sepedi, Sesotho, Setswana, siSwati, Tshivenda, Xitsonga, isiNdebele, isiXhosa, and isiZulu”. There are also many other languages spoken in South Africa like for example Arabic, German, Greek, Hindi, Tamil, Hebrew and many more. Some European languages like French, German, and Portuguese are used in South Africa but they are not nearly as influential as English. The historical development of South Africa has brought the question of language forward. The country became aware of its unique language situation and the chances and problems which are connected to it. After Mandela many people developed a greater interest in smaller languages. The paper is going to explore the language vitality of some of the 11 official South African languages, dealing with the problem of language endangerment/death and language reviltalisation. It is going to be seen whether the multilingualism which is propagandized by the government is or can be realised in real life. Due to the lack of valid information for many of the smaller indigenous Afrcian langugeas the paper will mostly look at the situation of Afrikaans and English, only rarely concidering the other languages in much detail.

Author : Robert Henry Robins,E. M. Uhlenbeck
Publisher : Berg Publishers
Page : 298 pages
File Size : 55,8 Mb
Release : 1991
Category : Language obsolescence
ISBN : UCSC:32106010366679

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Endangered Languages by Robert Henry Robins,E. M. Uhlenbeck Pdf

Author : Elizabeth C. Zsiga,One Tlale Boyer,Ruth Kramer
Publisher : Georgetown University Press
Page : 160 pages
File Size : 42,5 Mb
Release : 2015-03-03
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 9781626161535

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Languages in Africa by Elizabeth C. Zsiga,One Tlale Boyer,Ruth Kramer Pdf

People in many African communities live within a series of concentric circles when it comes to language. In a small group, a speaker uses an often unwritten and endangered mother tongue that is rarely used in school. A national indigenous language—written, widespread, sometimes used in school—surrounds it. An international language like French or English, a vestige of colonialism, carries prestige, is used in higher education, and promises mobility—and yet it will not be well known by its users. The essays in Languages in Africa explore the layers of African multilingualism as they affect language policy and education. Through case studies ranging across the continent, the contributors consider multilingualism in the classroom as well as in domains ranging from music and film to politics and figurative language. The contributors report on the widespread devaluing and even death of indigenous languages. They also investigate how poor teacher training leads to language-related failures in education. At the same time, they demonstrate that education in a mother tongue can work, linguists can use their expertise to provoke changes in language policies, and linguistic creativity thrives in these multilingual communities.

Author : Luna Filipović,Martin Pütz
Publisher : John Benjamins Publishing Company
Page : 413 pages
File Size : 54,6 Mb
Release : 2016-10-03
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 9789027266446

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Endangered Languages and Languages in Danger by Luna Filipović,Martin Pütz Pdf

This peer-reviewed collection brings together the latest research on language endangerment and language rights. It creates a vibrant, interdisciplinary platform for the discussion of the most pertinent and urgent topics central to vitality and equality of languages in today’s globalised world. The novelty of the volume lies in the multifaceted view on the variety of dangers that languages face today, such as extinction through dwindling speaker populations and lack of adequate preservation policies or inequality in different social contexts (e.g. access to justice, education and research resources). There are examples of both loss and survival, and discussion of multiple factors that condition these two different outcomes. We pose and answer difficult questions such as whether forced interventions in preventing loss are always warranted or indeed viable. The emerging shared perspective is that of hope to inspire action towards improving the position of different languages and their speakers through research of this kind.

Author : Peter K. Austin,Julia Sallabank
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 581 pages
File Size : 46,7 Mb
Release : 2011-03-24
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 9781139500838

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The Cambridge Handbook of Endangered Languages by Peter K. Austin,Julia Sallabank Pdf

It is generally agreed that about 7,000 languages are spoken across the world today and at least half may no longer be spoken by the end of this century. This state-of-the-art Handbook examines the reasons behind this dramatic loss of linguistic diversity, why it matters, and what can be done to document and support endangered languages. The volume is relevant not only to researchers in language endangerment, language shift and language death, but to anyone interested in the languages and cultures of the world. It is accessible both to specialists and non-specialists: researchers will find cutting-edge contributions from acknowledged experts in their fields, while students, activists and other interested readers will find a wealth of readable yet thorough and up-to-date information.

Author : Katrin Bromber,Birgit Smieja
Publisher : Walter de Gruyter
Page : 369 pages
File Size : 53,8 Mb
Release : 2011-07-20
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 9783110891614

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Globalisation and African Languages by Katrin Bromber,Birgit Smieja Pdf

Globalisation and African Languages links African language studies to the concept of 'globalisation' which increasingly undergoes critical review. Hence, African linguists of various provenience can make valuable contributions to this debate. In cultural matters, which by definition include language, there is often a sense that globalisation leads to a major trend of homogenisation, which results in a reduction of diversity on the one hand and, on the other, in new themes being incorporated into global (cultural) patterns. However, often conflicting and overlapping particularistic interests exist which have a constructive as well as destructive potential. This aspect leads directly to the first of three sections of this volume, LANGUAGE USE AND ATTITUDES, which addresses some of the burning issues in sociolinguistic research. Since this research area is tightly linked to the educational domain these important issues are addressed in articles that comprise the second section of this volume: LANGUAGE POLICY AND EDUCATION. The third section of the volume presents articles dealing with LANGUAGE DESCRIPTION AND CLASSIFICATION demonstrating which parts of different language systems are affected through contact under historical and modern conditions. The contributions of all the well-known scholars in this volume show that globalisation is a two-way street, and to ensure that all sides benefit in a reciprocal manner means the impacts have to be monitored globally, regionally, nationally and locally. By disseminating and emphasising these linguistic findings as part of the global cultural heritage, African language studies may offer urgently needed new perspectives towards a rapidly changing world.

Author : Matsumura, K.
Publisher : ひつじ書房
Page : 278 pages
File Size : 47,9 Mb
Release : 1998-05
Category : Literary Collections
ISBN : STANFORD:36105029490849

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Studies in Endangered Languages by Matsumura, K. Pdf