Up to ninety percent of humanity's traditional languages and cultures are at risk and may disappear this century. While language endangerment has not achieved the publicity surrounding environmental change and biodiversity loss, it is just as serious, disastrously reducing the variety of human knowledge and thought. This book shows why it matters, why and how it happens, and what communities and scholars can do about it. David and Maya Bradley provide a new framework for investigating and documenting linguistic, social and other factors which contribute to languages shifting away from their cultural heritage. Illustrated with practical in-depth case studies and examples from the authors' own work in Asia and elsewhere, the book encourages communities to maintain or reclaim their traditional languages and cultures.

'A masterpiece both because of its erudition and its coherent perspective.' David Olson, University of Toronto
'The authors address, among other things, endangerment stages and measures; research methods and ethics; linguistic ideology and attitudes that encourage speakers to maintain, or abandon, their language; factors (demographic, political, economic, etc.) that lead to language endangerment; language policy and planning; and strategies and resources for language reclamation.' L. Lindstrom, Choice
'The innovative approach of this book, its distinct style and structure as well as the wealth of information and illustration, make it an invaluable resource not only for scholars and students of cognitive and social sciences, but also for those members of the larger public interested in the latest advances in the field.' Radu Voica, Anthropos
'Both the formal features and the contents of this volume make it suitable and of potential interest for a diverse target audience, ranging from non-expert readers to researchers that may wish to obtain an up-to-date state of the issue.' Marc Gandarillas, Language in Society

David Bradley is Professor of Linguistics at La Trobe University, Victoria and President of the UNESCO Comité International Permanent des Linguistes. He has authored or contributed to many books including the UNESCO Atlas of Languages in Danger (3rd edition, 2010). Maya Bradley established Linguistics at La Trobe University, Victoria after teaching at other universities on three continents. She has co-authored or co-edited several books, including Language Endangerment and Language Maintenance (2002).