Endangered and Emerging Languages

  • David K. Harrison | Swarthmore College and National Geographic Society

In this talk I explore the ongoing global crisis of language extinction, and argue that it leads to intellectual impoverishment in all fields of science and culture. Examples of complex technologies from unwritten languages give us a clearer view of the human knowledge base. I also discuss the growing trend towards documentation and revitalization of small languages, and ways in which new technologies are being leveraged to sustain human linguistic diversity.

    • Portrait of Jeff Running

      Jeff Running

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