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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Language Death Within The Atlantic Group Of West Africa, George Tucker Childs
Language Death Within The Atlantic Group Of West Africa, George Tucker Childs
Applied Linguistics Faculty Publications and Presentations
This article presents an overview of the less widely spoken languages of the Atlantic Group (Niger-Congo), as representing the most seriously threatened language group in West Africa. Study of this group indicates that language endangerment is real and widespread. The basis for this claim comes from the literature on these languages, from personal research on the Atlantic languages dating back to 1984, and from recent and ongoing fieldwork on several highly endangered languages of Sierra Leone and Guinea.
Language Endangerment In West Africa: Its Victims And Causes, George Tucker Childs
Language Endangerment In West Africa: Its Victims And Causes, George Tucker Childs
Applied Linguistics Faculty Publications and Presentations
This paper catalogues the forces at work threatening the Atlantic languages of Guinea and Sierra Leone. Compared to Mande, the other major language group in the area, and to figures for Africa in general (Sommer 1992), the Atlantic Group is beset by ominous forces. These include what could be considered ecological features (e.g., Mufwene 2001): the Mande Expansion (Niane 1989), colonialism, the spread of Islam, and globalization. There are other forces to be sure, such as the influence of Christian missions (Welmers 1971; cf. Mühlhäusler 1990), urbanization (a sub-category, perhaps, of globalization), and climatic changes (Brooks 1993, Fairhead and Leach …