Encyclopedia of the World's Endangered Languages

The concern for the fast-disappearing language stocks of the world has arisen particularly in the past decade, as a result of the impact of globalization. This book appears as an answer to a felt need: to catalogue and describe those languages, making up the vast majority of the world's six thousand or more distinct tongues, which are in danger of disappearing within the next few decades.The Encyclopedia of the World's Endangered Languages represents an effort to conserve all the information we have about languages threatened with extinction, an effort that is not only imperative but a race against time. It will be a necessary addition to all academic linguistics collections and will be a useful resource for a range of readers with an interest in development studies, cultural heritage and international affairs.