Endangered Languages *
Linguistics 5540, Spring 2011
Th6:30-9:20, ABD202
Instructor: Shobhana L. Chelliah
Office Hours in Language 408J: MTH5-6 and by appointment
Phone: 940-369-8955, Email: chelliah@unt.edu
About the Course
By some estimates half of the 6,500 languages spoken in the world today could be lost
within the present century. In this course we will investigate why languages become
endangered and methods used to stabilize and revitalize languages.
Required Readings
Evans, Nicholas. 2009. Dying Words. Endangered Languages and What They Have to
Tell Us. Malden, Mass.: Wiley-Blackwell.
Hale, Kenneth, Colette Craig, Nora England, LaVerne Jeanne, Michael Krauss, Lucille
Watahomigie and Akira Yamamoto. 1992. Endangered Languages, Language
68:1-42
Ladefoged, Peter. 1992. Discussion note: Another view of endangered languages.
Language 68: 809-811.
Dorian, Nancy C. 1993. Discussion note: A response to Ladefoged’s other view of
endangered languages. Language 69: 575-579.
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Chapters from
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Chelliah, Shobhana L. and Willem J. de Reuse. Handbook of Descriptive
Linguistic Fieldwork. Dordrecht: Springer.
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Gippert, Jost, Nikolaus P. Himmelmann, and Ulrike Mosel, eds. 2006.
Essentials of Language Documentation. (Trends in Linguistics. Studies
and Monographs 178.) Berlin and New York: Mouton de Gruyter.
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Grenoble, Lenore and N. Louanna Furbee. 2010. Language
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Documentation, practice and values. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Grenoble, Lenore, and Lindsay J. Whaley, eds. 1998. Endangered
languages: Current Issues and Future Prospects. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
“The University of North Texas is on record as being committed to both the spirit and letter of
federal equal opportunity legislation; reference Public Law 92-112 – The Rehabilitation Act of
1973 as amended. With the passage of new federal legislation entitled Americans with
Disabilities Act (ADA), pursuant to section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, there is renewed focus
on providing this population with the same opportunities enjoyed by all citizens.”
1
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Grenoble, Lenore, and Lindsay J. Whaley. 2006. Saving languages: An
introduction to language revitalization. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press.
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Harrison, K. David. 2007. When Languages Die. Oxford University Press.
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Hinton, Leanne, and Kenneth Hale, eds. 2001. The Green Book of
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Language Revitalization in Practice. San Diego, Ca.: Elsevier Science.
Nettle, Daniel and Suzanne Romaine. 2000. Vanishing Voices, the
extinction of the world’s languages. Oxford University Press.
Prerequisites
LING 4040 or 5040 is an absolute must.
Attendance Policy
Three or more absences will result in your grade being lowered by one letter grade.
Grading Policy
The assignments for this course and grading policy are as follows:
1. Survey of endangered languages: You will select an area from the Atlas of the
World’s Languages in Danger (I’ll explain how in class). You will prepare a report
(to present in class and turn in) on the linguistic situation of the area you’ve
selected. You will provide reasons why languages in that area are endangered.
How does the language fit into typologies of endangerment? What are the
domains of use? Have there been efforts at revitalization? Two to 4 pages due
Feb 3, 10 minute presentations on Feb 3. [20%]
2. Orthography/Standardization: Discuss the writing system or prescriptive
grammar of a language. Questions to consider: How were orthographic/
prescriptive decisions made? In what contexts is the written language used? What
are the political and ideological issues surrounding the standard variety or the
writing system? Four to 5 pages due Feb 24, 10 minute presentations on March 3
[20%].
3. Website review: You will review the website of an endangered language project,
e.g. http://qenaga.org/ . What is the general design of the website? What
multimedia recourses are linked to for revitalization purposes? How does the
website deal with orthography? For which audiences is it meant? How is the
resource to be used by the community? Three to 4 pages due April 21, 10
minute presentations. [20%]
4. Pedagogical materials prepared for a language I will select. Due May 12,
Presentations on May 12th [20%]
5. Summary and commentary (2 pages each) on 5 articles of your choice on the
topic of endangered languages to be handed in May 12th. Three of the articles
you read should be from the class readings [20%].
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Makeup/Late Assignment Policy
You must have your presentations ready as scheduled. I will email a finalized
presentation schedule to you by the second week of class. No make-up presentations
will be possible. Written assignments must be handed in on time to receive full credit.
Academic Dishonesty
Please refer to the following website for the UNT policy on academic dishonesty:
http://www.vpaa.unt.edu/academic-integrity.htm .
Reading and Assignment Schedule:
Jan 20
What is an endangered language; why do we care about
language death; ideologies: small versus big languages
Read: (1) Evans Chapters 1-3; (2) Hale; (3) Dorian in
Grenoble and Whaley (1998)
Skim: (1) Ladefoged (2) Dorian (1993)
Jan 27
Endangered knowledge: calendars and maps
Read (1) K. David Harrison Chapter 3 and (2) catch up
on Jan 20th reading
Feb 3
Endangered grammar: phonological, morphological,
and syntactic diversity
Read (1) Evans Chapters 4-5; (2) Nettle and Romaine
Chapter 3
Presentations on Endangered Language
Feb 10
Factors influencing language loss
Read (1) Evans 6-7; (2) Fishman Chapter 3
Feb 17
Language, culture and thought
Read (1) Evans 8-9
Feb 24
Orthographic concerns and language maintenance
Read: (1) Grenoble and Whaley (2006), Chapter 6; (2)
Hinton and Hale, Section 6; (3) Gippert et al. Chapter 11
March 3
Factors influencing language maintenance and revival
Read (1) Evans 10; (2) Grenoble and Whaley (2006),
Chapter 3; (3) The Green Book: Language Revitalization
Presentations on Orthography
March 10
Guest Lecture: Example of an Endangered Language
Documentation Project
March 14-19
March 24
Spring Break
Documentary Linguistics
Read: (1) Grenoble and Furbee (2010) (2) Gippert
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Chapter 1; (3) Gippert Chapter 5
March 31
Fieldwork Products: Grammars, Text Collections,
Read: (1) Chelliah and de Reuse Chapter 13; (2)
Catching Language: real descriptions; (3) Catching
Grammar: writing culture in grammar
April 7
Fieldwork Products: Dictionaries
Read: (1) Chelliah and de Reuse 9
April 14
Revitalization case studies; videos
April 21
Website development
Read: Golumbia in Grenoble and Furbee
Presentation: Website review
April 28
Materials Development of Language Maintenance:
Speaking and Listening Skills
Read: (1) Woodbury
May 5
Materials Development of Language Maintenance:
Reading and Writing Skills
May 12
Student Presentations
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