Language in Danger [Hardcover]

Andrew Dalby (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0231129009 | ISBN-13: 978-0231129008 | Publication Date: April 15, 2003

Every two weeks the world loses another indigenous language. Evolving over hundreds or even thousands of years, distinct languages are highly complex and extremely adaptable, but they are also more fragile and endangered than we might expect. Of the approximately 5,000 languages spoken around the globe today, Andrew Dalby predicts that half will be lost during this century. How will this linguistic extinction affect our lives? Is there a possibility that humanity will become a monolingual species? Should we care?

Language in Danger is an unsettling historical investigation into the disappearance of languages and the consequences that future generations may face. Whether describing the effects of Latin's displacement of native languages in the aftermath of Rome's imperial expansion or the aggressive extermination of hundreds of indigenous North American languages through a brutal policy of forcing Native Americans to learn English, Dalby reveals that linguistic extinction has traditionally occurred as a result of economic inequality, political oppression, and even genocide. Bringing this historical perspective to bear on the uncertain fate of hundreds of pocket cultures-cultures whose languages are endangered by less obvious threats, such as multinational economic forces, immigration, nationalism, and global telecommunications -- Language in Danger speaks out against the progressive silencing of our world's irreplaceable voices.

More than an uncompromising account of the decline of linguistic diversity, Language in Danger explains why humanity must protect its many unique voices. Since all languages represent different ways of perceiving, mapping, and classifying the world, they act as repositories for cultural traditions and localized knowledge. The growing trend toward linguistic standardization -- for example, politically designated national languages -- threatens the existence of more marginalized cultures and ethnic customs, leaving only a few dominant tongues. The resulting languages become less flexible, nuanced, and inventive as they grow increasingly homogenized. Dalby argues that humanity needs linguistic variety not only to communicate, but to sustain and enhance our understanding of the world. People do not simply invent words out of thin air: our creativity and intelligence are, to a significant degree, dependent on other languages and alternate ways of interpreting the world. When languages intermix, they borrow and feed off each other, and this convergence catalyzes the human imagination, making us more intelligent and adaptable beings.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Even if short on solutions, this argument about why we should care about the present-day loss of languages is generally convincing. An honorary fellow at the U.K.'s Institute of Linguistics, Dalby (A Dictionary of Languages) begins by exploring the nature of language, then uses historical evidence (in sometimes wearying detail) from such far-flung theaters as the Roman Empire, Wales, Australia and Hawaii to formulate principles about how languages grow apart, come together, and compete with one another. Of the 5,000 languages currently spoken, he predicts that half will not survive the present century; that there may be as few as 200 languages in less than two centuries; and that, some time after that, the only language spoken may be English. The principal culprits, on his account, are national and international tongues (especially English) that squeeze out minority languages-sometimes by political violence, but more often through the choices of individuals pursuing prosperity by giving up their ancestral speech. If one day we do all end up "speaking in more or less the same way," he warns that we will lose three valuable things: the ethnobotanical and other local knowledge that had been preserved by the vanished languages; the alternative world views those languages embodied; and the linguistic innovation our own language could have enjoyed from interacting with those languages. Unfortunately, Dalby's own case for the inevitability of language loss makes it hard to see what anyone can do to stop it, so his final call for us to "find another way" falls flat. Nevertheless, the book does succeed in posing the problem accessibly, and may even prod some readers into trying to learn or relearn another language.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

Provides an engrossing account of both how languages evolve and interact with one another, and of how much is lost when the last speaker of [a language] dies.

(Michael Dirda Washington Post Vol. 4, 2004)

Warning of the loss of linguistic diversity as speakers are assimilated to global languages, Dalby argues that language loss entails an irreplaceable loss of local cultural knowledge... [T]his is a successful presentation of a key argument for preserving linguistic diversity.

(Choice )

Passionate and lucid... the whole book works up to a magnificent final chapter... ardent, dignified, and convincing.

(The Spectator )

A wide-ranging and lucid study of how languages die.

(Sunday Telegraph )

This argument about why we should care about the present-day loss of languages is convincing.

(Publishers Weekly )

Andrew Dalby (2003), as author of Language in Danger provides an interesting account of how languages evolve and interact with one another... The aim to promote awareness for cultural linguistic diversity, regardless of globalisation, can be heard loud and clear.

(Nicholas Alexis Zoffel Language and Intercultural Communication )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Columbia University Press (April 15, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0231129009
• ISBN-13: 978-0231129008
• Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 6.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,727,884 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good, but a bit too history-oriented, April 7, 2004

By 

Laszlo Wagner (Hungary) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Language in Danger (Hardcover)

In general, I found this book a good addition to the list of those publications dealing with the sad and worrying issue of the disappearence of many of the world's languages.
The author is obviously sympathetic towards minority languages and is trying hard to come up with some practical arguments for their preservation.

However, I found 2 major shortcomings (?) in this book.
First, it contains a (too) long chapter on the theoritical question of what language actually is and how languages have developed. While this might be of interest to some, it isn't directly linked to the main topic, and may make some readers put the book down with boredom.
Secondly, it deals in greatest length with examples of language extinctions from the historical past: Latin 'killing' European languages, English 'killing' Celtic ones in centuries gone by. Again, these are of some interest, but have little to do with the situation today, when minority languages face unprecedented pressure from globalization, television and universal education, none of which were factors centuries ago.

Therefore I think the present/recent examples would have deserved more detailed coverage.
They do get some to be fair, but not as much as they should.
As usual, the emphasis among current examples is on native North American languages, a group already spoken by very few only, and mostly doomed.
There are also interesting examples mentioned from Australia - but described as mere anecdotes.
Finally, this book does give at least some coverage to countries where most of the presently still existing languages are being spoken under heavy pressure from a 'national language': eg. Indonesia, the Philippines or Nigeria. Unfortunately the interesting and complex situation in these countries receives a far less-detailed coverage.

All in all, this book is interesting and will hopefully go some way towards raising awareness of this important issue.
Because of the disproportionate emphasis on old history and the situation of minority languages in English-speaking countries, I would actually only rate it only 3-4 stars, but I gave it 5 to even out an unfair 1 star rating of a silly "review" (which has now been removed)long sitting below mine.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Too much emotion and hyperbole, too little facts, September 9, 2009

By 

K G R "K G R" (Arlington, VA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Language in Danger (Hardcover)

Dalby is obviously an accomplished linguist and knowledgeable about the subject of languages in general. Dalby argues that Earth is fast headed to a monolingual future, and that we should take proactive measures to stop this. Unfortunately, like most of the literature on endangered languages, Language in Danger is inherently anti-English and anti-Western in nature. The author tries to refute the notion that speaking common languages is beneficial by pointing out that many wars have been fought between speakers of the same languages. Does he seriously believe that we'd all be better off if we needed translators to communicate with our fellow humans? Like other anti-English authors, he seems to ignore the fact that people from different parts of the world need a common means of communication. Dalby seems to wish that English was not studied globally, and similarly that more commonly spoken languages were less promoted. Logically, there is simply no other way (at least until the day when universal translators are devised) for people from various parts of the world to communicate. In an increasingly globalized world, members of minority language groups cannot live within a cloistered world of their own people and ignore the rest of us. While obviously minority languages are dying off at an unfortunately high rate, this has occurred throughout human history, and will continue to do so. However, the evidence by no means shows that the world will become "unilingual" ever, never mind any time in a few centuries.


However, the book does have its saving graces. It obviously brings the plight of endangered languages to light. There are great historical anecdotes detailing the reason for linguistic substitution both past and present. The author could have made this book so much better if he avoided an anti-English bias (one wonders if the author realized how many fewer readers his books would have if read only by native English speakers), and offered more practical solutions to the problem of language loss and acknowledged that languages at some point have always become obsolete and will continue to do so. While I obviously have serious problems with this book, if you are interested in the subject of language loss I recommend this book to you.

1 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Too little evidence, too much hyperbole, March 29, 2006

By 

DFG - See all my reviews

This review is from: Language in Danger (Hardcover)

I'm VERY picky about my linguistics books because I've just read too many by hobbyists that turn out to be full of errors. Unfortunately being an actual linguist doesn't stop the author of this book making sweeping statements that simply aren't factual, or rubbishing statistics because he has a "feeling" that the opposite is true.

He predicts that English will be the only language spoken anywhere in the world in the not-so-distant future, and on what basis? His main "evidence" for this seems to be the fact that Quebec French is adopting English forms of speech. Absolutely nothing is put forward to justify the conclusion that English will replace French in France, though, or Spanish or Arabic or Chinese in the countries where those languages are spoken. Yet somehow he arrives at that conclusion anyway.

Dalby also makes shockingly racist comments about the Travelling community in England, and for all his dire warnings about the deaths of languages, offers no practical solutions whatsoever for how to prevent them - except that people should stop spreading English.

An easy enough read for those of us interested in the subject, but unfortunately contributes very little of substance to it.