Call for Registration: FEL X Mysore - VITAL VOICES: Endangered Languages & Multilingualism

[Nicholas Ostler]

  The Foundation for Endangered Languages: Tenth Conference in 
association with the Central Institute of Indian Languages, Mysore, 
India. 25-27 October 2006.

Registration is now open,
through downloadable forms which can be found at
http://www.ogmios.org
and at
http://www.ciil.org/Main/Announcement/Abstracts/Registration.htm

For most, there is *10% discount* for registration (with payment) *by 10 
September*.

Details of the programme, including abstracts of accepted papers,
and the deal offered to attendees, including visits to linguistic sites 
at CIIL, and local excursions, can found at
http://www.ciil.org/Main/Announcement/Abstracts

The Foundation for Endangered Languages, in association with the Central 
Institute of Indian Languages, will hold its annual 2006 conference in 
India, home of more than a thousand languages and dialects, and a 
consciously multilingual policy stance by the Government of India. 
Although many of these languages enjoy political and economic patronage, 
others are struggling to survive. Among these strugglers are the 
languages of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, where communities are not 
only tiny, but also some of the most anciently independent tribes on the 
planet. The viability of many such small languages is threatened.

This year's conference concerns the effects of multilingualism on 
smaller languages. A crucial question for this conference is how far 
poorly-conceived language planning policies may actually contribute to 
environmental imbalance and instability, dangers that are often very 
little understood. As we understand the effort to revitalize languages, 
this is no more than the support they need to develop in the face of new 
demands, including the increased bi- and multi-lingualism coming from 
globalization, urbanization and language contact.

‘*Vital Voices’* refers to the growing awareness that the survival and 
development of endangered languages are necessary for humanity’s future, 
however endangered they may look amidst the statistics generated for 
policy in our globalized economy.

The programme will include a keynote lecture by Professor Lachman 
Khubchandani:

LANGUAGES THREATENED IN A PLURAL FRAMEWORK: Dialectics of Speech 
Variation and Globalization

Different sessions, with some 30 talks over three days, will focus on:

Outlining the Danger
Development and Changes
Effects of Contact
Roles for Religion
Literacy Choices & Documentation
Extreme Endangerment
Majority-Minority Relationships
Emerging Complexity
Cooperation with Neighbour Languages
Community Response for Language Support


    The Conference Venue

The *Central Institute of Indian Languages*, Mysore, (CIIL) was set up 
by the Government of India in July 1969. It is a large institute with 
seven regional centers spread all over India, and is engaged in research 
and training in Indian languages other than English and Hindi. It helps 
to evolve and implement India’s language policy and coordinate the 
development of Indian languages.* Mysore *is a city in the Southern 
Indian <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India> state of Karnataka 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karnataka>. The former capital of the 
princely state of Mysore, ruled by the Wodeyar dynasty since the 14th 
century, it is now the administrative seat of Mysore District 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mysore_District>, the second largest in 
Karnataka, 135 km <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kilometre> from 
Bangalore <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangalore>, the state capital. 
The city is known for its palaces and many other attractions. One of 
these is the Brindavan Gardens laid out beside the Krishnarajasagar dam 
(19km), particularly beautiful at night. There are also the Royal 
Palace, the Chamundi Hills, Srirangapatnam Temple, Ranganthittu Bird 
Sanctuary, Oriental Research Institute, and Museums of Folklore, and of 
Art and Archeology. The conference dates (25-27 October) will allow 
participants, if they wish, to witness Diwali (the festival of lights) 
on 23 October before coming to Mysore. A language-related excursion is 
planned for 28-29 October after the conference.


    Transport

*Bus*: Mysore has inter-city and sub-urban public bus transportation.

*Rail*: Mysore is connected to Bangalore 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangalore> to the northeast via Mandya 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandya>, and to Hassan 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hassan> to the northwest, to 
Chamarajanagar <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chamarajanagar> via 
Nanjangud <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanjangud> to the southeast.

*Air*: The nearest accessible airport is at Bangalore 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangalore>.


-- 
Foundation for Endangered Languages
Registered Charity: England and Wales 1070616
172 Bailbrook Lane, Bath BA1 7AA, England
+44-1225-852865  nostler at chibcha.demon.co.uk
http://www.ogmios.org

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