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2 - Language ecology and endangerment

from Part 1 - Endangered languages

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2012

By
Lenore A. Grenoble
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

The field of language ecology studies the interrelationships between speakers and their languages as situated in their full (contemporary and historical) context. In its strong version, a theory of language ecology likens competition between languages to the competition between species and provides mechanisms for accounting for the survival of the fittest (languages). Language planning should take into account the overall language ecology of any group, which can be seen as a framework or model for analysing the relationship between linguistic practices on the context, or milieu, in which they are situated, that is, their ecolinguistic niche. Most linguists would argue that it is possible to place language vitality along a continuum, with languages which are vital and in no way endangered (e.g. English, Mandarin, and Spanish) on one end, and extinct languages which have no speakers and have vanished without descendent or daughter languages on the other end.
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Endangered Languages , pp. 27 - 44
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2011

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