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Sallabank, Julia (2024) 'Linguistic Diversity.' Global Perspectives, 5 (1). p. 117328.

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Abstract

Linguistic diversity is generally perceived as declining, although the number of languages in the world, as counted by catalogues such as Ethnologue (Eberhard et al. 2023), is actually increasing year on year. This paper will consider what is meant by linguistic diversity, how it is measured and valued, why it is seen as under threat, why this matters, and to whom. The paper will trace how the concept of linguistic diversity, and discourses surrounding it, have developed over the last few decades: exploring, for example, parallels that have been drawn between language, cultural and biological diversity, and more recently with health and wellbeing. The paper will also explore the different conceptions and reactions of linguists, policy-makers, and linguistic communities: how are linguistic resources valued, what is the impact of their potential loss for academia, societies and individuals, and how it is addressed by these various actors. The paper will conclude by considering broader implications of viewing linguistic diversity through a social lens, especially in relation to the UNESCO Decade of Indigenous Languages (IDIL 2022–2032) and discourses and rhetorics about linguistic diversity.

Item Type: Journal Article
Keywords: linguistic diversity, languages, language vitality, discourses
SOAS Departments & Centres: Departments and Subunits > School of Languages, Cultures & Linguistics > Department of Linguistics
ISSN: 25757350
Copyright Statement: Licenses to Publisher: Whereas by authority of the Regents of the University of California, the University of California Press is undertaking to publish GP of which the undersigned is Author of one or more parts, the Author grants and assigns exclusively to the Regents of the University of California for its use, any and all rights of whatsoever kind or nature now or hereafter protected by the Copyright Law of the United States of America and all foreign countries in all languages in and to the above named article, including all subsidiary rights, and electronic rights. This includes granting the Regents of the University of California copyright and licensing rights to the article separate and apart from the journal issue, in any and all media.
DOI (Digital Object Identifier): https://doi.org/10.1525/gp.2024.117328
Date Deposited: 24 Feb 2024 11:35
URI: https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/id/eprint/41491
Funders: Other

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