Endangered languages in the 21st century

A well-rounded cross-section of current research in the field of endangered languages with a truly international scope The volume is a collection of 17 papers by some of the top scholars in the field of linguistic endangerment. It celebrates the ways in which endangered languages (ELs) continue to live and resist, focusing on research that reveals individual, community and institutional efforts which promote speaking and writing endangered languages and bringing them to life. While being realistic about the general state of endangered languages and linguistic diversity in the world today and remaining watchful to challenges, the studies provide a lens that focuses on relatively positive evidence from the past decade, and on sustainable steps and practices in EL communities around the world. This is the primary difference from other recent publications that discuss theoretical problems and present case studies from endangered languages. The volume's articles reflect and analyze concepts and situations of great interest in the field without being prescriptive, and without taking the reader step by step from the basic to the more complex concepts and challenges in the field of study. In this respect, the book is not as large as a typical comprehensive handbook volume. Yet, it provides a wide range of topics, and theoretical and empirical studies. There are also new comparative narratives that cover large geographical areas in which linguistic endangerment has been rarely or never explored so comprehensively before this volume, like those of Central Asia and Northern Africa.