When Languages Die : The Extinction of the World's Languages and the Erosion of Human Knowledge: The Extinction of the World's Languages and the Erosion of Human KnowledgeOxford University Press, USA, 1 feb 2007 - 304 páginas 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. |
Dentro del libro
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Página vii
... last speakers of many languages are now fading away , never to be heard again . Linguists like me , too few in number , rush to record these tongues , while a few native communities struggle to revive them . Some of these last voices ...
... last speakers of many languages are now fading away , never to be heard again . Linguists like me , too few in number , rush to record these tongues , while a few native communities struggle to revive them . Some of these last voices ...
Página viii
... last speak- ers expressed their dismay and sadness at the impending loss of their lan- guage. I came to share their ... speakers, language-lovers, and scientists alike—to work harder to ensure their survival. Acknowledgments Recognizing ...
... last speak- ers expressed their dismay and sadness at the impending loss of their lan- guage. I came to share their ... speakers, language-lovers, and scientists alike—to work harder to ensure their survival. Acknowledgments Recognizing ...
Página x
... Last Speakers” documentary. Chris Rainier at National Geographic helped bring my en- dangered language research to a ... last speak- ers of their languages inspired this book by generously sharing with me their wisdom, their stories, and ...
... Last Speakers” documentary. Chris Rainier at National Geographic helped bring my en- dangered language research to a ... last speak- ers of their languages inspired this book by generously sharing with me their wisdom, their stories, and ...
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Lo sentimos, pero el contenido de esta página es de acceso restringido..
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Lo sentimos, pero el contenido de esta página es de acceso restringido..
Índice
1 A World of Many Fewer Voices | 3 |
2 An Extinction of Ideas about Species | 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 |
263 | |
285 | |
Otras ediciones - Ver todo
When Languages Die: The Extinction of the World's Languages and the Erosion ... K. David Harrison Vista de fragmentos - 2007 |
When Languages Die: The Extinction of the World's Languages and the Erosion ... K. David Harrison Vista de fragmentos - 2007 |
Términos y frases comunes
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 grammar guage hand Hanunóo herding hivo human hunter-gatherers 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 modern Monchak month names mountains Musqueam myth native Nggela Nivkh number sense number system number words objects oral Papua New Guinea patterns Pirahã plants Pomo reduplication 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 University vanish Vanuatu Vasya Ventureño verb village vowels Wayampi Yakkha Yanyuwa Yukaghir Yuki
Referencias a este libro
Language Anxiety: Conflict and Change in the History of English Tim William Machan Vista previa restringida - 2009 |
The Quest for Jewish Assimilation in Modern Social Science Amos Morris-Reich No hay ninguna vista previa disponible - 2008 |