Sustaining Linguistic Diversity ─ Endangered and Minority Languages and Language Varieties

King, Schilling-Estes, Fogle, Lou, and Soukup (all linguistics, Georgetown U., Washington, D.C.) present a diverse collection of papers, written by 26 international researchers and practitioners, which were originally presented at a March 2006 conference on sustaining linguistic diversity held at Georgetown U. The 15 contributions are organized into four sections on defining how languages and language varieties are best classified, the implications of such classifications, and who should have the final say in making them; best practices, methods, and goals in documenting and describing endangered languages; current practices in developing endangered languages and dialects, particularly language revitalization efforts and outcomes; and the human lives at stake--the costs and personal sacrifices that are often part of language revitalization efforts, and the human value of speakers of minority languages and language varieties. No subject index. Annotation c2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Kendall A. King is an associate professor in the Department of Linguistics at Georgetown University. She is author ofLanguage Revitalization Processes and Prospects and coeditor of the Encyclopedia of Language and Education, Volume 10.

Natalie Schilling-Estes is an associate professor in the Department of Linguistics at Georgetown University. She is coauthor ofAmerican English: Dialects and Variation and coeditor of the Handbook of Language Variation and Change.

Lyn Fogle, Jia Jackie Lou, and Barbara Soukup are doctoral students in the Department of Linguistics at Georgetown University.