Encyclopedia of the World's Endangered Languages

Knowledge of the world's languages has never been more comprehensive than it is today; yet never have so many been threatened by extinction. Defining as endangered those languages in which older speakers are failing  for whatever reason  to pass on their native speech to younger generations, this encyclopedia is the first to catalogue and describe them in depth. Each regional section in this work explores the problems of language preservation in the area, surveys known extinct languages and problems of classification, and provides a list of all known languages within the region, with special marking of those listed as endangered or extinct in subsequent entries. The list is followed by A-Z entries covering each language listed as endangered. Edited by internationally regarded specialist Christopher Moseley, co-editor of the classic Atlas of the World's Languages, this is an essential resource for linguists, language-lovers, and anyone who believes that the human community is impoverished by the loss of even one language.