Dimensions
164 x 241 x 32mm
How Language Loss Threatens Our Future.
A language dies every two weeks. With an estimated 5,000 languages worldwide, this means that by the end of the century the number of languages being spoken will have halved.
What does this mean for us as a species? Does it matter? What can we learn from history about how languages cease to exist and what can we do to preserve the rich variety of language? What knowledge do we lose when the last person to speak a language dies?
Andrew Dalby takes us through the questions, the theory and the history to show us why it is crucial that we care about language loss. Looking at the way Latin rampaged through the Mediterranean, he explores the way in which languages are abandoned by communities in the pursuit of individual advancement; by analysing this example he shed new light on the phenomenal rise of English as the language of the twentieth century.
In this passionately argued and richly detailed book, Andrew Dalby clearly demonstrates that we need to preserve language in all its variety - not just for language itself but for the future of humankind.
