The Ecology of Language Revival

Abstract

Language revival is a difficult undertaking, and so new frameworks for understanding and effecting it are always of interest. The adoption of an ecological viewpoint in linguistics has been one of these. Contemporary versions (or visions), however, are unlikely to prove substantial: they are not particularly innovative, nor are their foundations sturdy in all respects. Apart from a brief consideration of language rights – often important constituents of the moral basis of the 'new' ecology – this paper also examines several underlying threads: notions of ecological health and cultural perpetuation, concerns for 'small' and indigenous systems, and disdain for aspects of modernity.