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4 - A survey of language endangerment

from Part 1 - Endangered languages

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2012

By
David Bradley
Edited by
Peter K. Austin  and
Julia Sallabank
Peter K. Austin
Affiliation:
School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London
Julia Sallabank
Affiliation:
School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London
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Summary

This chapter outlines the state of endangerment across the world's languages, based on two recent comprehensive surveys (Brenzinger 2007a, Moseley 2007). It discusses some widely used scales for endangerment including the current UNESCO standard. Various widespread issues are outlined using examples from the situation in China, Burma/Myanmar and Thailand, based on original language survey data, to show the limitations of wide-scale surveys and the need for more finely grained survey work using a consistent methodology. Languages displaced by long-distance migration as an outcome of colonialism or more recent events are not usually listed as endangered if they are not endangered in some community location. In some areas, available overview data is both more comprehensive and has been collected using a more consistent methodology. Finally, the chapter discusses the general strategies and procedures for surveying language endangerment.
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Endangered Languages , pp. 66 - 77
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2011

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