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The Language Phenomenon pp 217–234Cite as

Environment: Language Ecology and Language Death

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Abstract

Global linguistic diversity is rapidly declining. As the world becomes less linguistically diverse, it is becoming culturally less diverse as well as the world’s tribes and languages are dying out or being assimilated into modern civilization because their habitats are being destroyed. At the same time the world is experiencing a substantial decline in biodiversity. The extinction of languages is part of the larger picture of near total collapse of the worldwide ecosystem, and languages are vital parts of complex local ecologies that must be supported if global biodiversity is to be maintained.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Merton College, Oxford, OX1 4JD, UK

    Suzanne Romaine

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  1. Suzanne Romaine
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Correspondence to Suzanne Romaine .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Natural Sciences Divison, University of Hawaii, W. Kawili Street 200, Hilo, 96720-4091, Hawaii, USA

    P.-M. Binder

  2. Division of Psychology, Cognition & Communication Research Ctr., Northumbria University, Northumerland Road, Newcastle, NE1 8ST, United Kingdom

    K. Smith

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Romaine, S. (2013). Environment: Language Ecology and Language Death. In: Binder, PM., Smith, K. (eds) The Language Phenomenon. The Frontiers Collection. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-36086-2_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-36086-2_10

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