Can Threatened Languages be Saved?

Defenders of threatened languages all over the world, from advocates of biodiversity to dedicated defenders of their own cultural authenticity, are often humbled by the dimensity of the task that they are faced with when the weak and the few seek to find a safe-harbour against the ravages of the strong and the many. This book provides both practical case studies and theoretical directions from all five continents and advances thereby the collective pursuit of "reversing language shift" for the greater benefit of cultural democracy everywhere.

Joshua A. Fishman, a leading sociolinguist, is Distinguished University Research Professor, Social Sciences, Emeritus, at the Ferkauf Graduate School of Yeshiva University, and Visiting Professor at Stanford University, New York University, City University of New York Graduate Center and Long Island University. He is the author/editor of 38 books including Reversing Language Shift (Multilingual Matters, 1991) and the General Editor (and founder) of the International Journal of the Sociology of Language and of the book series Contributions to the Sociology of Language.