Hostname: page-component-7b7567c8c-7pwfn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-11-12T08:00:36.563Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

On how and why languages become endangered: Reply to Mufwene

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2026

Lyle Campbell
Lyle Campbell*
Affiliation:
University of Hawai‘i Mãnoa
*
[lylecamp@hawaii.edu]
Get accessRights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Salikoko Mufwene raises significant questions about how and why languages become endangered (and die). The purpose of this reply is to provide additional perspective on what goes into answering these questions. Several of Mufwene's claims are responded to. Questions are raised concerning what the theorizing about language endangerment and loss (LEL) that Mufwene calls for would be like. Many causal factors associated with LEL are mentioned, advances in understanding are pointed out, and the roles of language documentation and language revitalization are clarified.

Keywords

Salikoko Mufwenelanguage endangermentcauses of language losslanguage documentationlanguage revitalizationCatalogue of Endangered Languages (ELCat)

Information

Type
Perspectives
Information
Language , Volume 93 , Issue 4 , December 2017, pp. e224 - e233
Copyright
Copyright © 2019 Linguistic Society of America

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Campbell, Lyle, and Okura, Eve. 2018. New knowledge produced by the Catalogue of Endangered Languages. Cataloguing the world's endangered languages, ed. by Campbell, Lyle and Belew, Anna. London: Routledge, to appear.10.4324/9781315686028CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Himmelmann, Nikolaus P. 1998. Documentary and descriptive linguistics. Linguistics 36. 161–95. DOI: 10.1515/ling.1998.36.1.161.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Himmelmann, Nikolaus P. 2006. Language documentation: What is it and what is it good for? Essentials of language documentation, ed. by Gippert, Jost, Himmelmann, Nikolaus, and Mosel, Ulrike, 1–30. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.Google Scholar
Himmelmann, Nikolaus P. 2012. Linguistic data types and the interface between language documentation and description. Language Documentation & Conservation 6. 187–207. Online: http://hdl.handle.net/10125/4503.Google Scholar
Lee, Nala Huiying, and Van Way, John R.. 2016. Assessing levels of endangerment in the Catalogue of Endangered Languages (ELCat) using the language endangerment index (LEI). Language in Society 45. 271–92. DOI: 10.1017/S0047404515000962.10.1017/S0047404515000962CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mufwene, Salikoko S. 2013. Language as technology: Some questions that evolutionary linguistics should address. In search of universal grammar: From Norse to Zoque, ed. by Lohndal, Terje, 327–58. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.Google Scholar
Mufwene, Salikoko S. 2017. Language vitality: The weak theoretical underpinnings of what can be an exciting research area. Language 93 (4). e202–e223.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rehg, Kenneth L. 2007. The language documentation and conservation initiative at the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa. Documenting and revitalizing Austronesian languages (Language Documentation & Conservation special publication 1), ed. by Rau, D. Victoria and Florey, Margaret, 13–24. Online: http://hdl.handle.net/10125/1350.Google Scholar
Rhodes, Richard, Grenoble, Lenore a., Berge, Anna; and Radetzky, Paula. 2007. Adequacy of documentation: A preliminary report to the Committee on Endangered Languages and their Preservation (CELP). Presented to the committee at the annual meeting of the Linguistic Society of America, Anaheim, CA.Google Scholar
Swadesh, Morris. 1948. Sociologic notes on obsolescent languages. International Journal of American Linguistics 14. 226–35. DOI: 10.1086/464009.10.1086/464009CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Taff, Alice, Chee, Melvatha, Hall, Jaeci, Hall, Millie Yéi Dulitseen, Martin, Kawenniyóh- stha Nicole; and Johnston, Annie. 2018. Indigenous language use impacts wellness. Handbook of endangered languages, ed. by Kenneth Rehg and Lyle Campbell. Oxford: Oxford University Press, to appear.Google Scholar
Thomason, Sarah G. 2015. Endangered languages: An introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Woodbury, Anthony C. 2011. Language documentation. The Cambridge handbook of endangered languages, ed. by Austin, Peter K. and Sallabank, Julia, 159–86. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar