Remembering ancestral voices
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Bernard Perley
Abstract
Language endangerment is a global tragedy that has prompted a surge in research and advocacy on behalf of those communities whose languages have been diagnosed as endangered. Indigenous languages in the Americas and Australia are the most at risk of becoming extinct by the end of this century. Graded scales from “safe” to “extinct” present diagnostic frames of reference that influence the kinds of approaches toward documentation and revitalization that community activists/advocates and language experts develop and initiate. Those languages deemed “extinct” and/or “severely endangered” are hampered by the prevailing metaphors that unduly constrain possible actions for language vitality. This paper offers a re-conceptualization of the metaphors regarding language endangerment away from “death” and “extinct” to “sleeping” and from documentation toward “emergent vitalities”. This is especially critical for indigenous communities living in their ancestral homelands where remembering ancestral voices plays a significant role in possible futures for indigenous languages.
Abstract
Language endangerment is a global tragedy that has prompted a surge in research and advocacy on behalf of those communities whose languages have been diagnosed as endangered. Indigenous languages in the Americas and Australia are the most at risk of becoming extinct by the end of this century. Graded scales from “safe” to “extinct” present diagnostic frames of reference that influence the kinds of approaches toward documentation and revitalization that community activists/advocates and language experts develop and initiate. Those languages deemed “extinct” and/or “severely endangered” are hampered by the prevailing metaphors that unduly constrain possible actions for language vitality. This paper offers a re-conceptualization of the metaphors regarding language endangerment away from “death” and “extinct” to “sleeping” and from documentation toward “emergent vitalities”. This is especially critical for indigenous communities living in their ancestral homelands where remembering ancestral voices plays a significant role in possible futures for indigenous languages.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Dedication vii
- Acknowledgements ix
- Introduction xi
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Part I. Language Endangerment: Challenges and Responses
- The world’s languages in crisis 3
- What can revitalization work teach us about documentation? 21
- Unanswered questions in language documentation and revitalization 43
- Training as empowering social action 59
- How to avoid pitfalls in documenting endangered languages 79
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Part II. Case Studies in Documentation and Revitalization of Endangered Languages and Languages in Contact
- Converb and aspect-marking polysemy in Nar 97
- Grammatical relations in Mixe and Chimariko 119
- Having a shinshii/shiishii ‘master’ around makes you speak Japanese! 141
- Internal and external calls to immigrant language promotion 157
- Code-switching in an Erzya–Russian bilingual variety 175
- Colonialism, nationalism and language vitality in Azerbaijan 197
- Revitalizing languages through place-based language curriculum 221
- Remembering ancestral voices 243
- Index 271
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Dedication vii
- Acknowledgements ix
- Introduction xi
-
Part I. Language Endangerment: Challenges and Responses
- The world’s languages in crisis 3
- What can revitalization work teach us about documentation? 21
- Unanswered questions in language documentation and revitalization 43
- Training as empowering social action 59
- How to avoid pitfalls in documenting endangered languages 79
-
Part II. Case Studies in Documentation and Revitalization of Endangered Languages and Languages in Contact
- Converb and aspect-marking polysemy in Nar 97
- Grammatical relations in Mixe and Chimariko 119
- Having a shinshii/shiishii ‘master’ around makes you speak Japanese! 141
- Internal and external calls to immigrant language promotion 157
- Code-switching in an Erzya–Russian bilingual variety 175
- Colonialism, nationalism and language vitality in Azerbaijan 197
- Revitalizing languages through place-based language curriculum 221
- Remembering ancestral voices 243
- Index 271
