On the Death and Life of Languages (An Editions Odile Jacob Book)

Claude Hagege, (Translator) Jody Gladding

ISBN 10: 0300167873 / ISBN 13: 9780300167870

Published by Yale University Press, 2011

About this Item

Seller Inventory # 2810769

Bibliographic Details

• Title: On the Death and Life of Languages (An Editions Odile Jacob Book)
• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Publication Date: 2011
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0300167873
• ISBN 13: 9780300167870
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: Very Good
• Seller catalogs:
  • LINGUISTICS

About this title

Synopsis

Twenty-five languages die each year; at this pace, half the world’s five thousand languages will disappear within the next century. In this timely book, Claude Hagège seeks to make clear the magnitude of the cultural loss represented by the crisis of language death.

By focusing on the relationship of language to culture and the world of ideas, Hagège shows how languages are themselves crucial repositories of culture; the traditions, proverbs, and knowledge of our ancestors reside in the language we use. His wide-ranging examination covers all continents and language families to uncover not only how languages die, but also how they can be revitalized—for example in the remarkable case of Hebrew. In a striking metaphor, Hagège likens languages to bonfires of social behavior that leave behind sparks even after they die; from these sparks languages can be rekindled and made to live again.

About the Author

Claude Hagège is the Chair of Linguistic Theory at the Collège de France in Paris. He is the author of more than fifteen books and the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including the Gold Medal from Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique. Jody Gladding is an award-winning poet and translator, and author of Stone Crop, which appeared in the Yale Younger Poets Series.