Bibliography of Materials on
Endangered Languages
Crystal, David (2000)
Language Death. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
A discussion of the rapid loss of languages throughout the world, the causes of language death, why we should be concerned about it, and what can be done about it.

Dalby, Andrew (2003)
Language in Danger: The Loss of Linguistic Diversity and the Threat to our Future. New York: Columbia University Press.
An unusual feature of this book is that much of it is devoted to the linguistic history of Europe, which is used to exemplify the processes by which minority languages are lost and the consequences of losing them.

Gardner, Ethel and Verna Kirkness (1989)
"Decimation of First Nations Languages: An Historical Perspective," Canadian Journal of Native Education 16.2.3-25.

Grenoble, Lenore A. & Lindsay J. Whaley (eds.) (1998)
Endangered Languages: current issues and future prospects. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Hale, Kenneth, Michael Krauss, Lucille Watamahogie, Akira Yamamoto, Collette Craig, LaVerne Masayesva Jeanne, and Nora England (1992)
"Endangered Languages," Language 68.1-42.

Nettle, Daniel and Suzanne Romaine (2000)
Vanishing Voices: The Extinction of the World's Languages. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
A discussion of the rapid loss of languages throughout the world, with particular attention to the causes of language death and the relationship between linguistic diversity and biological diversity. An important chapter is devoted to why we should care about the loss of linguistic diversity.

Robins, Robert H. and Eugenius M. Uhlenbeck (eds.) (1991)
Endangered Languages Oxford: Berg.

Skutnabb-Kangas, Tove (2000)
Linguistic Genocide in Education or Worldwide Diversity and Human Rights?
Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. ISBN 0-8058-3468-0.
A massive (nearly 800 pages) volume of considerable importance for people concerned with endangered languages. The author argues that most indigenous and minority education contributes to linguistic genocide and places this within the context of globalization, loss of biodiversity, and loss of human rights by minority groups. She discusses the pros and cons of linguistic diversity and what can be done to promote and maintain it, especially by means of linguistic rights legislation and changes in education.

Wuethrich, Bernice (2000)
"Learning the World's Languages - Before They Vanish," Science 288.1156-1158 (May 19 2000).
Discusses the scientific value of being able to study a wide range of languages and the impact of language death on our understanding of human language.

HOME BACK

Yinka Déné Language Institute © 2006