Endangerment and Language Shift

Abstract

For several years, linguists have seen a parallel between species loss and language endangerment, fearing a rapid reduction in the number of distinct languages which they argue will reduce human knowledge of plants and other valued knowledge. Others suggest that shift is natural and evolutionary. The chapter gives details of minority languages in India, Vanuatu, Brazil, Nigeria, and the Russian Federation, providing support for the notion that stronger varieties threaten weaker. The appendix gives details of endangered languages in five countries.