The great acceleration of the loss of linguistic diversity

The great acceleration of climate change over the last decades has encouraged us to rethink the relationship between humans and their environment and to adapt in a way that reduces harm and fosters sustainable development. However, whereas much of the debate is centred around the loss of biological diversity and seeks to prevent the depletion of natural resources, less attention is paid to the loss of linguistic diversity and the preservation of languages for future generations. Notwithstanding the realization that the humanities have an important role to play in raising questions and developing potential responses with regard to climate change, linguists have been relatively slow to engage with the topic.

In this project, we try to remedy this situation, by identifying climate-induced threats faced by languages and their speakers, understand the underlying mechanism and work out sustainable solutions for the future. We pay particular attention to endangered languages in our focus region, such as Ainu, Nivkh, Ryukyuan languages, Tungusic languages and in the wider area of the Northern Pacific Rim.

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