Language Endangerment and Renewal

Out of the world’s roughly 7000 languages, 3000 are at risk for falling out of use in their communities of origin. Most endangered languages are indigenous, their speakers having responded to colonial dispossession by shifting to politically and economically dominant languages. While all languages change, indigenous language endangerment represents an unprecedented loss of global linguistic diversity. Some communities have responded to the threat of language loss with programs designed to revitalize and renew heritage languages for future generations. Drawing upon comparative case studies from around the world, this class establishes a linguistic anthropological approach to language endangerment, renewal, and revitalization. 3 hrs. lect.