Endangered Languages: Critical Concepts in Linguistics

My colleague Stuart McGill and I have recently completed work on a new book Endangered Languages: Criticial Concepts in Linguistics that will be published by Routledge later this year. At 1,600 pages in 4 volumes it is one of the largest projects I have been involved with.

The book consists of 75 key journal articles and selected book chapters that deal with issues in endangered language studies and represent what we feel are the essential readings that anyone wanting to become familiar with the field from its beginnings to the present day should have access to. In addition, we have written introductions to each of the four volumes, and a general introduction to the whole work outlining the history of research on endangered languages and highlighting what we see as some of the challenges faced by the field today.

The four volumes are:

Volume I: Beginnings
Part 1: Language obsolescence and death
Part 2: Structural changes
Part 3: Implications of language loss

Volume II: Language Documentation
Part 4: Defining language documentation
Part 5: Data in language documentation
Part 6: Documentation methods

Volume III: Language planning and case studies in revitalisation
Part 7: language planning models
Part 8: case studies in revitalisation

Volume IV: Issues in revitalisation and challenges for linguists
Part 9: General issues in revitalisation
Part 10: Challenges for linguists
Part 11: Endangered languages in the future

A detailed list of chapters can be found on the Routledge website in the “contents” tab.

The book is due to be available on 4th August 2011.

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