Aug 10, 2021
Language is an essential part of society and identity. Although languages have been lost throughout history, globalization has contributed to the loss of languages around the world. As a result, interest in language reclamation is growing among linguists, governments, and cultural and community groups.
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Professor Ghil’ad Zuckermann is a language revivalist and linguist whose work focuses on linguistics, lexicology and study of language, culture, and identity. He uses the term the “lost-heritage peoples” to describe indigenous peoples whose culture and language were stolen from them by more dominant cultures.
For the past 11 years Ghil’ad Zuckermann has been working on revitalizing the Aboriginal languages of Australia. He has been working with the Barngarla community to help them revive and reclaim their Barngarla Aboriginal language. To reach the goal of reviving this long-sleeping language, Professor Zuckermann has been traveling to villages in rural areas in Australia to help the Barngarla people learn about their original language.
Zuckermann shares his knowledge of linguistics and language reclamation, which is a new transdisciplinary field, through his book, Revivalistics: From the Genesis of Israeli to the Reclamation of Australia and Beyond. The book tells the story of language from Israel to Australia. He also teaches a five-week online course, Language Revival Securing the Future of Endangered Languages that focuses on the language revival movement.
To learn more visit:
Website: https://adelaide.edu.au, https://oup.com/why-we-should-revive-dead-languages/