Berkeley researchers go global to document endangered languages (fwd link)

[phil cash cash]

Berkeley researchers go global to document endangered languages

By Kathleen Maclay, Media Relations | 06 June 2008

BERKELEY – As the "Breath of Life" conference on California Indian language
revitalization gets underway on June 8 on campus, UC Berkeley faculty and
student linguists are fanning out around the globe to research and document
other often endangered languages.

These efforts reflect a shift, of sorts, in linguistics. For decades, the field
focused on exploring language as a cognitive phenomenon or as a host of
theoretical puzzles. Today, it reflects an expanded emphasis on documentation
and maintenance of languages as critical resources, with new technologies and
commitments to make these efforts even more interesting, according to Leanne
Hinton, UC Berkeley professor emeritus of linguistics and co-founder of the
upcoming conference.

Access full article below:
http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2008/06/06_lang.shtml