On the death and life of languages

Author / Creator

Hagège, Claude, 1936-

Available as

Online

Physical

Summary

Twenty-five languages die each year; at this pace, half the world's five thousand languages will disappear within the next century. In this book, the author seeks to make clear the magnitude of the...

Twenty-five languages die each year; at this pace, half the world's five thousand languages will disappear within the next century. In this book, the author 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, the author shows how languages are themselves crucial repositories of culture; the traditions, proverbs, and knowledge of our ancestors reside in the language we use. His 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.

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