On the death and life of languages / Claude Hagège ; translated by Jody Gladding.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Hagège, Claude, 1936-

Contributor:

Gladding, Jody.

Series:

An Editions Odile Jacob Book

Standardized Title:

Halte à la mort des langues. English

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Language obsolescence.

Language revival.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (375 p.)

Place of Publication:

New Haven : Yale University Press, 2009.

Language Note:

English

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 timely book, Claude Hagège 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, Hagège shows how languages are themselves crucial repositories of culture; the traditions, proverbs, and knowledge of our ancestors reside in the language we use. His wide-ranging 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. In a striking metaphor, Hagège likens languages to bonfires of social behavior that leave behind sparks even after they die; from these sparks languages can be rekindled and made to live again.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Preface

1. Languages, Providers of Life

2. Languages, Living Species

3. Language and Speech

4. Words and the Struggle for Life

5. What Is a Dead Language?

6. The Paths to Extinction

7. The Battalion of Causes

8. Taking Stock

9. Factors in Preservation and the Struggle Against Disaster

10. Hebrew—From Life to Death and From Death to Life

11. New Languages, Creoles, Promotions

Conclusion

References

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9786612353161

9781282353169

1282353160

9780300155792

0300155794

OCLC:

816341905