ELL: Re: Journalist writing article about language preservation

[Lucas Husgen]

Though slightly ashamed for the usual lack of politeness amongst my fellow Dutch ("whatever nature is supposed to hide from us"), I take this opportunity to refer you to Vanishing voices; the extinction of the world's languages, the comprehensive study by Daniel Nettle and Suzanne Romaine, which contains numerous examples. From a Dutch perspective their account of the linguistic questions concerning the Bali irrigation system may be especially interesting.  



Best regards,

L.

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Angelique van Engelen 
  To: endangered-languages-l at cleo.murdoch.edu.au 
  Sent: Friday, August 30, 2002 5:39 PM
  Subject: ELL: Journalist writing article about language preservation


  Dear all,
  I am a journalist writing an article about language diversity and its links with bio diversity and I am looking to find actual examples of how languages contain that magical information about ecosystems or plants or animals or whatever nature is supposed to hide from us and that linguists are so enthusiastic about. 
  Apart from the grub reference in the much lamented article by the WSJ I have not found anything on the internet to this effect. Does someone have samples that show if not magnify the importance of language preservation? 
  Regards,
  Angelique van Engelen



-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/endangered-languages-l/attachments/20020830/94953a69/attachment.htm>