The Condition of Native American Languages in the United States
At the beginning of the sixteenth century, in the lands that are now the United States (the forty-eight contiguous states, Alaska and Hawaii), there must have been many hundreds of distinct languages. Fewer than two hundred remain, and the future of these is decidedly insecure, even where the remote...
Published in: | Diogenes |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Cambridge University Press (CUP)
1991
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/039219219103915304 http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/039219219103915304 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0392192100322507 |
id |
crcambridgeupr:10.1177/039219219103915304 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
crcambridgeupr:10.1177/039219219103915304 2024-05-19T07:43:09+00:00 The Condition of Native American Languages in the United States Zepeda, Ofelia Hill, Jane H. 1991 http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/039219219103915304 http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/039219219103915304 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0392192100322507 en eng Cambridge University Press (CUP) https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms Diogenes volume 39, issue 153, page 45-65 ISSN 0392-1921 1467-7695 journal-article 1991 crcambridgeupr https://doi.org/10.1177/039219219103915304 2024-05-02T06:51:20Z At the beginning of the sixteenth century, in the lands that are now the United States (the forty-eight contiguous states, Alaska and Hawaii), there must have been many hundreds of distinct languages. Fewer than two hundred remain, and the future of these is decidedly insecure, even where the remoteness of the location (in the case of Inuit in Northern Alaska) or the large size of the speech community (in the case of Navajo in the Southwest) might seem to protect the community from language loss. Yet even this vastly reduced reservoir of linguistic diversity constitutes one of the great treasures of humanity, an enormous storehouse of expressive power and profound understandings of the universe. The loss of the hundreds of languages that have already passed into history is an intellectual catastrophe in every way comparable in magnitude to the ecological catastrophe we face today as the earth's tropical forests are swept by fire. Each language still spoken is fundamental to the personal, social and - a key term in the discourse of indigenous peoples - spiritual identity of its speakers. They know that without these languages they would be less than they are, and they are engaged in the most urgent struggles to protect their linguistic heritage. The goal of this paper is to review the contexts and practices of this struggle, in the hope that people everywhere will support it. Article in Journal/Newspaper inuit Alaska Cambridge University Press Diogenes 39 153 45 65 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Cambridge University Press |
op_collection_id |
crcambridgeupr |
language |
English |
description |
At the beginning of the sixteenth century, in the lands that are now the United States (the forty-eight contiguous states, Alaska and Hawaii), there must have been many hundreds of distinct languages. Fewer than two hundred remain, and the future of these is decidedly insecure, even where the remoteness of the location (in the case of Inuit in Northern Alaska) or the large size of the speech community (in the case of Navajo in the Southwest) might seem to protect the community from language loss. Yet even this vastly reduced reservoir of linguistic diversity constitutes one of the great treasures of humanity, an enormous storehouse of expressive power and profound understandings of the universe. The loss of the hundreds of languages that have already passed into history is an intellectual catastrophe in every way comparable in magnitude to the ecological catastrophe we face today as the earth's tropical forests are swept by fire. Each language still spoken is fundamental to the personal, social and - a key term in the discourse of indigenous peoples - spiritual identity of its speakers. They know that without these languages they would be less than they are, and they are engaged in the most urgent struggles to protect their linguistic heritage. The goal of this paper is to review the contexts and practices of this struggle, in the hope that people everywhere will support it. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Zepeda, Ofelia Hill, Jane H. |
spellingShingle |
Zepeda, Ofelia Hill, Jane H. The Condition of Native American Languages in the United States |
author_facet |
Zepeda, Ofelia Hill, Jane H. |
author_sort |
Zepeda, Ofelia |
title |
The Condition of Native American Languages in the United States |
title_short |
The Condition of Native American Languages in the United States |
title_full |
The Condition of Native American Languages in the United States |
title_fullStr |
The Condition of Native American Languages in the United States |
title_full_unstemmed |
The Condition of Native American Languages in the United States |
title_sort |
condition of native american languages in the united states |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
publishDate |
1991 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/039219219103915304 http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/039219219103915304 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0392192100322507 |
genre |
inuit Alaska |
genre_facet |
inuit Alaska |
op_source |
Diogenes volume 39, issue 153, page 45-65 ISSN 0392-1921 1467-7695 |
op_rights |
https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1177/039219219103915304 |
container_title |
Diogenes |
container_volume |
39 |
container_issue |
153 |
container_start_page |
45 |
op_container_end_page |
65 |
_version_ |
1799482857351020544 |