Earlier this year I announced the publication of When Languages Die by K. David Harrison. The NYT have finally caught up with the non-profit group led by Harrison and Gregory D. S. Anderson: the Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languages, in an article by John Noble Wilford published yesterday called " Languages Die, but Not Their Last Words". (The most recent related piece in the NYT appears to be Say No More (nudge nudge, wink wink?), a Magazine piece by Jack Hitt published way back in Feb. 2004.)
There's a related article and video on National Geographic News, published two days ago: "Last Speaker of "Extinct" Language Found". Anderson is identified as Harrison (and vice-versa) in the video, but otherwise worth a look. [Update: Just bumped into Roger Shuy at the water cooler, and he tells me this misidentification has been fixed.]
Speaking of National Geographic: be sure to check out the Language Hotspots page (linked from yesterday's NYT article).
[Update: Ben Zimmer writes to inform us about the critical discussion over at Anggarrgoon.]
Hat tip to Roger Levy and Alex Del Giudice for sending the links.
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Posted by Eric Bakovic at September 20, 2007 11:52 AM