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This volume is devoted to linguistic and phonetic analysis of some undescribed and endangered languages.

Language obsolescence. --- Language and languages --- Language death --- Obsolescence of languages --- Historical linguistics --- Sociolinguistics --- Endangered languages --- Extinct languages --- Obsolescence

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It is commonly agreed by linguists and anthropologists that the majority of languages spoken now around the globe will likely disappear within our lifetime. The phenomenon known as language death has started to accelerate as the world has grown smaller. This extinction of languages, and the knowledge therein, has no parallel in human history. K. David Harrison's book is the first to focus on the essential question, what is lost when a language dies? What forms of knowledge are embedded in a language's structure and vocabulary? And how harmful is it to humanity that such knowledge is lost forever? Harrison spans the globe from Siberia, to North America, to the Himalayas and elsewhere, to look at the human knowledge that is slowly being lost as the languages that express it fade from sight. He uses fascinating anecdotes and portraits of some of these languages' last remaining speakers, in order to demonstrate that this knowledge about ourselves and the world is inherently precious and once gone, will be lost forever. This knowledge is not only our cultural heritage (oral histories, poetry, stories, etc.) but very useful knowledge about plants, animals, the seasons, and other aspects of the natural world--not to mention our understanding of the capacities of the human mind. Harrison's book is a testament not only to the pressing issue of language death, but to the remarkable span of human knowledge and ingenuity. It will fascinate linguists, anthropologists, and general readers.

Language obsolescence. --- Langage et langues --- Disparition --- Linguistics --- Ethnology. Cultural anthropology --- Language obsolescence --- Language and languages --- Language death --- Obsolescence of languages --- Historical linguistics --- Sociolinguistics --- Endangered languages --- Extinct languages --- Obsolescence

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Research into the “grammar of language death” is often biased toward formal processes (e.g. paradigmatic levelling). In this study the author changes the perspective and shows that the relative susceptibility of linguistic elements to loss, change and innovation in language death circumstances can be dependent on meaning and thus organized along semantic notions rather than along structure.

Modality (Linguistics) --- Grammar, Comparative and general --- Language obsolescence. --- Semantics --- Finnic languages --- Mood. --- History. --- Modality. --- Language obsolescence --- Formal semantics --- Semasiology --- Semiology (Semantics) --- Language and languages --- Language death --- Obsolescence of languages --- Mode (Grammar) --- Mood (Grammar) --- Mood --- History --- Obsolescence --- E-books --- Comparative linguistics --- Information theory --- Lexicology --- Meaning (Psychology) --- Historical linguistics --- Sociolinguistics --- Endangered languages --- Extinct languages --- Linguistics --- Verb --- Philology --- Finnic Languages. --- Language Death.

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The rapid decline in the world's linguistic diversity has prompted the emergence of documentary linguistics. While documentary linguistics aims primarily at creating a durable, accessible and comprehensive record of languages, it has also been a driving force in developing language annotation and analysis software, archiving architecture, improved fieldwork methodologies, and new standards in data accountability and accessibility. More recently, researchers have begun to recognize the immense potential available in the archived data as a source for linguistic analysis, so that the field has become of increasing importance for typologists, but also for neighbouring disciplines. The present volume contains contributions by practitioners of language documentation, most of whom have been involved in the Volkswagen Foundation's DoBeS programme (Dokumentation Bedrohter Sprachen). The topics covered in the volume reflect a field that has matured over the last decade and includes both retrospective accounts as well as those that address new challenges: linguistic annotation practice, fieldwork and interaction with speech communities, developments and challenges in archiving digital data, multimedia lexicon applications, corpora from endangered languages as a source for primary-data typology, as well as specific areas of linguistic analysis that are raised in documentary linguistics.

Sociolinguistics --- Endangered languages --- Language obsolescence. --- Langues menacées --- Langage et langues --- Disparition --- Language death --- Obsolescence of languages --- Obsolescence --- Language and languages. --- Language and languages --- Historical linguistics --- Extinct languages --- Foreign languages --- Languages --- Anthropology --- Communication --- Ethnology --- Information theory --- Meaning (Psychology) --- Philology --- Linguistics

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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.

Language and languages --- Language obsolescence --- Language death --- Obsolescence of languages --- Historical linguistics --- Sociolinguistics --- Endangered languages --- Extinct languages --- Foreign languages --- Languages --- Anthropology --- Communication --- Ethnology --- Information theory --- Meaning (Psychology) --- Philology --- Linguistics --- Obsolescence --- LANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES / Linguistics / General --- Arts and Humanities --- Language & Linguistics