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Current Issues In Language Planning
Polity Editors: Robert B. Kaplan (University of Southern California), Richard B. Baldauf Jr. (University of Queensland) and Nkonko Kamwangamalu (Howard University)
Bob and Dick are also editors of the book series Language Policy and Planning


Volume: 7  Number: 2&3  Page: 269–286  doi:10.2167/cilp098.0

Preserving Dialects of an Endangered Language
Shelley Tulloch
Department of Anthropology, Saint Mary’s University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

Language planning research and practice have largely ignored, or considered problematic, the diversity within endangered languages. Such a stance, though, conflicts with speakers’ attitudes and desires, which often place high value on specific dialects. As grassroots, bottom-up approaches move to the forefront, so do concerns about the maintenance of distinct dialects of endangered languages. Dialect preservation has emerged (implicitly or explicitly) as a concurrent, complementary goal. Based on descriptions of dialect death and maintenance in the literature, this paper suggests that ‘micro’ approaches to language planning favour the preservation of dialectal diversity within the broader pursuit of promoting endangered languages.

Keywords: dialect, endangered languages, indigenous languages, language planning, language shift, standardisation

© 2006 S. Tulloch

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