TY - BOOK ID - 78070202 TI - On the death and life of languages AU - Hagège, Claude AU - Gladding, Jody PY - 2009 SN - 1282353160 9786612353161 0300155794 9780300155792 9780300137330 0300137338 9780300167870 0300167873 9781282353169 6612353163 PB - New Haven London DB - UniCat KW - Language obsolescence. KW - Language revival. KW - Language and languages KW - Language renewal KW - Language revitalization KW - Renewal, Language KW - Restoration of languages KW - Revitalization, Language KW - Revival of languages KW - Sociolinguistics KW - Language death KW - Obsolescence of languages KW - Historical linguistics KW - Endangered languages KW - Extinct languages KW - Restoration KW - Revival KW - Obsolescence UR - https://www.unicat.be/uniCat?func=search&query=sysid:78070202 AB - Twenty-five languages die each year; at this pace, half the world’s five thousand languages will disappear within the next century. In this timely book, Claude Hagège seeks to make clear the magnitude of the cultural loss represented by the crisis of language death.By focusing on the relationship of language to culture and the world of ideas, Hagège shows how languages are themselves crucial repositories of culture; the traditions, proverbs, and knowledge of our ancestors reside in the language we use. His wide-ranging examination covers all continents and language families to uncover not only how languages die, but also how they can be revitalized—for example in the remarkable case of Hebrew. In a striking metaphor, Hagège likens languages to bonfires of social behavior that leave behind sparks even after they die; from these sparks languages can be rekindled and made to live again. ER -