When Languages Die: The Extinction of the World's Languages and the Erosion of Human KnowledgeOxford University Press, 1 февр. 2007 г. - Всего страниц: 304 It is commonly agreed by linguists and anthropologists that the majority of languages spoken now around the globe will likely disappear within our lifetime. The phenomenon known as language death has started to accelerate as the world has grown smaller. This extinction of languages, and the knowledge therein, has no parallel in human history. K. David Harrison's book is the first to focus on the essential question, what is lost when a language dies? What forms of knowledge are embedded in a language's structure and vocabulary? And how harmful is it to humanity that such knowledge is lost forever? Harrison spans the globe from Siberia, to North America, to the Himalayas and elsewhere, to look at the human knowledge that is slowly being lost as the languages that express it fade from sight. He uses fascinating anecdotes and portraits of some of these languages' last remaining speakers, in order to demonstrate that this knowledge about ourselves and the world is inherently precious and once gone, will be lost forever. This knowledge is not only our cultural heritage (oral histories, poetry, stories, etc.) but very useful knowledge about plants, animals, the seasons, and other aspects of the natural world--not to mention our understanding of the capacities of the human mind. Harrison's book is a testament not only to the pressing issue of language death, but to the remarkable span of human knowledge and ingenuity. It will fascinate linguists, anthropologists, and general readers. |
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Стр. vii
... spoken? This book is my attempt to explain why language death matters. On a personal level, I have formed close personal friendships with the last speakers of many languages, and with their children and grandchildren. I have spent ...
... spoken? This book is my attempt to explain why language death matters. On a personal level, I have formed close personal friendships with the last speakers of many languages, and with their children and grandchildren. I have spent ...
Стр. 3
... spoken worldwide.2 Many linguists now predict that by the end of our current twenty-first century—the year 2101—only about half of these languages may still be spoken. How do we know this? It follows from unrelenting demographic facts ...
... spoken worldwide.2 Many linguists now predict that by the end of our current twenty-first century—the year 2101—only about half of these languages may still be spoken. How do we know this? It follows from unrelenting demographic facts ...
Стр. 5
... spoken by fewer than 30 individuals, and it is the daily, household language of just a single family. All other speakers reside in households where Russian serves as the medium of most conversations. In this situation, one shared by ...
... spoken by fewer than 30 individuals, and it is the daily, household language of just a single family. All other speakers reside in households where Russian serves as the medium of most conversations. In this situation, one shared by ...
Стр. 6
... spoken by the Mashpee Wampanoag people of Cape Cod, are merely 'sleeping' or 'dormant' and may be 'awakened', 'retrieved', or 'revived' in some hoped-for future.7 Extending the biological metaphor, language disappearance only ...
... spoken by the Mashpee Wampanoag people of Cape Cod, are merely 'sleeping' or 'dormant' and may be 'awakened', 'retrieved', or 'revived' in some hoped-for future.7 Extending the biological metaphor, language disappearance only ...
Стр. 7
... spoken. But a grammar book or dictionary is but a dim reflection of the richness of a spoken tongue in its native social setting. The accelerating extinction of languages on a global scale has no precedent in human history. And while it ...
... spoken. But a grammar book or dictionary is but a dim reflection of the richness of a spoken tongue in its native social setting. The accelerating extinction of languages on a global scale has no precedent in human history. And while it ...
Содержание
3 | |
23 | |
Traditional Calendars and TimeReckoning | 61 |
4 An Atlas in the Mind | 101 |
5 Silent Storytellers Lost Legends | 141 |
Counting to Twenty on Your Toes | 167 |
7 Worlds within Words | 205 |
Notes | 237 |
Bibliography | 263 |
Index | 285 |
Другие издания - Просмотреть все
When Languages Die: The Extinction of the World's Languages and the Erosion ... K David Harrison Ограниченный просмотр - 2008 |
When Languages Die: The Extinction of the World's Languages and the Erosion ... K. David Harrison Ограниченный просмотр - 2008 |
When Languages Die: The Extinction of the World's Languages and the Erosion ... K. David Harrison Недоступно для просмотра - 2007 |
Часто встречающиеся слова и выражения
Ainu ancestral animals behavior birds body body-counting Borôro classifier cognitive complex counting systems cultures cycles ecological encoded endangered languages English example extinction Figure fingers fish Folk taxonomies forest genetic groups guage hand Hanunóo herding hivo human hunting Ifugao indigenous Ingush island Kaluli Karaim Kaurna Kewa knowledge landscape last speakers linguistic living lunar calendar lunar months maps Marovo Marta mathematical means metaphors migration Mlabri Monchak Mongolian month names moon phases mountains Musqueam myth native Nggela Nivkh number sense number system number words objects oral Papua New Guinea patterns Pirahã plants Pomo reindeer reindeer herders rice river Rotokas Russian scientists Siberia sign languages small languages song sound speak species speech spoken story survival Tabasaran talk taxonomies tion Tofa tongue traditional Tuvan nomads Uda River vanish Vanuatu Vasya Ventureño verb village vowels Wayampi world’s languages Yakkha Yanyuwa Yukaghir Yuki