Was für ein schönes und notwendiges Buch! Es klärt spannend und informativ auf, ohne zu predigen. Rafik Schami
Arnfrid Schenk / Stefan Schnell
ATLAS DER VOM AUSSTERBEN BEDROHTEN SPRACHEN / ATLAS OF LANGUAGES OF RISK OF EXTINCTION. From North Frisia to the Amazon Basin
Complete with infographics and over 50 4/c maps by Pia Bublies
approx. 224 pages / 18,5 x 26 cm
Spring 2025
What a beautiful and necessary book! It intrigues and informs the reader without resorting to preaching. Rafik Schami
Learn about what we lose when languages die out, and how they can be saved
This atlas provides a vital insight into the wealth of languages around 7000 in total -still spoken today.Frank Seifart, Society for Endangered Languages
Around the World in 50 At-Risk Languages from Aramaic to Plattdeutsch
Today, the diversity of the worlds ~7000 languages is under greater threat than ever before, with almost half facing extinction by the end of the 21st century. Each language that a community relinquishes heralds the loss not just of individual phonologies and grammars, but also rich sources of wisdom and part of the worlds cultural diversity.
The atlas highlights fifty at-risk languages, from Lower Sorbian and Basque in Europe, to Comanche in North America, Kayardild in Australia, and Mbugu in Africa. Among them are languages which boast specific words for delicate subtleties in smell, and those that employ a completely different concept of time and space.
Specially drawn maps and infographics illustrate where each language is spoken and what level of threat it faces. The accompanying essays demonstrate the various causes of language extinction, as well as spotlighting what can be done to preserve these languages, making it clear just how impoverished the world will be if ever more languages disappear.
ATLAS DER VOM AUSSTERBEN BEDROHTEN SPRACHEN / ATLAS OF LANGUAGES OF RISK OF EXTINCTION. From North Frisia to the Amazon Basin
Complete with infographics and over 50 4/c maps by Pia Bublies
approx. 224 pages / 18,5 x 26 cm
Spring 2025
What a beautiful and necessary book! It intrigues and informs the reader without resorting to preaching. Rafik Schami
Learn about what we lose when languages die out, and how they can be saved
This atlas provides a vital insight into the wealth of languages around 7000 in total -still spoken today.Frank Seifart, Society for Endangered Languages
Around the World in 50 At-Risk Languages from Aramaic to Plattdeutsch
Today, the diversity of the worlds ~7000 languages is under greater threat than ever before, with almost half facing extinction by the end of the 21st century. Each language that a community relinquishes heralds the loss not just of individual phonologies and grammars, but also rich sources of wisdom and part of the worlds cultural diversity.
The atlas highlights fifty at-risk languages, from Lower Sorbian and Basque in Europe, to Comanche in North America, Kayardild in Australia, and Mbugu in Africa. Among them are languages which boast specific words for delicate subtleties in smell, and those that employ a completely different concept of time and space.
Specially drawn maps and infographics illustrate where each language is spoken and what level of threat it faces. The accompanying essays demonstrate the various causes of language extinction, as well as spotlighting what can be done to preserve these languages, making it clear just how impoverished the world will be if ever more languages disappear.
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Arnfrid Schenk
Arnfrid Schenk is Knowledge editor at DIE ZEIT. He studied politics and Islamic studies in Freiburg and graduated from the Henri Nannen School of...
Arnfrid Schenk is Knowledge editor at DIE ZEIT. He studied politics and Islamic studies in Freiburg and graduated from the Henri Nannen School of Journalism in Hamburg.
Stefan Schnell
Dr. Stefan Schnell is a linguist and researcher at the Institute for Comparative Linguistics at the University of Zurich. His work addresses the...
Dr. Stefan Schnell is a linguist and researcher at the Institute for Comparative Linguistics at the University of Zurich. His work addresses the comparative study of human languages, particularly those which have received minimal study and are frequently under threat. He is responsible for documenting and describing the Oceanic language Vera’a, spoken in Vanua Lava in northern Vanuatu.
Pia Bublies
Pia Bublies has been a freelance graphic designer and illustrator for over ten years, working for numerous publications including DIE ZEIT, DER...
Pia Bublies has been a freelance graphic designer and illustrator for over ten years, working for numerous publications including DIE ZEIT, DER SPIEGEL, and PAGE.