Hieber, Daniel W. 2009.

Review of Dying words: Endangered languages and what they have to tell us, by
Nicholas Evans. Linguist List 20(2673). Accessible at: http://linguistlist.org/issues/20/20-2673.html.
AUTHOR: Evans, Nicholas
TITLE: Dying Words
SUBTITLE: Endangered Languages and What They Have to Tell Us
SERIES: The Language Library
PUBLISHER: Wiley-Blackwell
YEAR: 2010

Daniel W. Hieber, Endangered Language Program, Rosetta Stone

INTRODUCTION
Continuing the recent trend of writing towards a general audience on the
issue of language endangerment (see Nettle & Romaine 2000; Crystal 2000;
Harrison 2007), this book aims to show what is lost when languages die, why
this matters, and what we should do about it. Whereas previous books on the
topic have featured primarily Asian languages (Harrison) or have offered a
sweeping overview (Crystal), this book’s author, Nicholas Evans, comes from a
background in both Australian and Papuan indigenous languages, bringing new
expertise, new data, and a fresh approach to the set of popular books on the
topic.

SUMMARY
The book has five sections, plus a prologue and an epilogue. The prologue
opens with a vignette of Pat Gabori, one of the last speakers of the
Kayardild language indigenous to Australia. Evans presents a good example of
what has become the typical scenario for languages worldwide. He explains
how, having never had a large speaker base, the language fell into decline
after the imposition of colonial schooling and forcible relocation. He notes
that Kayardild poses challenges for Universal Grammar, and that the language
requires conceptualizing the world in ways unfamiliar to English speakers
(the language has absolute directional reckoning, rather than relative). This
real-world example both gives the reader a preview of topics to come, and is
representative of endangered languages globally. Evans here introduces his
central point for the first time, which is that any one of these endangered
languages may contain a key to unlocking knowledge about the language
instinct, human cognition, or world history. The prologue ends by introducing
the concept of the “logosphere” (a term coined by Michael Krauss) to refer to
the world’s diverse “ecosystem of languages”, with a call to protect it.

Part I: The Library of Babel, is an introduction to language diversity (Ch.

1) and the history of our academic interest in language (Ch. 2). Evans points
out that Western tradition sees linguistic diversity as a detriment (as seen
in the Tower of Babel myth), whereas many cultures value diversity as a badge
of identity. Continuing the biosphere analogy, Evans notes in Chapter 1 that
languages are adapted to meet a variety of different cultural and ecological
demands. He shows how the growth of the state has led to an unevenly
distributed reduction in language diversity around the globe, measured in
terms of the loss of distinct language families. Chapter 2 outlines the
development of interest in language and the tools available to document it,
starting with the proselytizing efforts of the Catholic church and Spanish
missionaries in the Americas, and then the quest to reconstruct the divine
languages, capped by a rising interest in linguistic diversity following
Humboldt, Boas, Sapir, and finally Whorf.

Part II: A Great Feast of Languages, surveys typological diversity across

languages in relation to sound, meaning, and grammar (phonology, semantics,
and morphology) (Ch. 3), as well as evidentials or ‘Social Cognition in
Grammar’ (Ch. 4). The Navajo language is the star of Chapter 3, beginning

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with a look at the unbreakable World War II code, then moving into a
discussion of phonemic differences between languages. Artfully skirting a
discussion of Sapir-Whorfism, the cross-linguistic discussion on semantics is
a rich yet concise look at the issues speakers face in mapping meaning across
languages. The chapter ends with an introduction to morphology via an
examination of animacy hierarchies in Navajo. Chapter 4 presents a wealth of
examples illustrating evidentiality in language, and makes the point that
language forces the mind to attend to certain categories or features of the
world around us.

Part III: Faint Tracks in an Ancient Wordscape: Languages and Deep World
History, is the largest section of the book, falling squarely in the center
and occupying the most page real estate. It begins with an introduction to
comparative philology (Ch. 5), moves into a discussion of linguistic
archaeology (Ch. 6), and ends with an interesting insight into how modern
languages can unlock ancient writing systems (Ch. 7). Evans piques the
reader’s interest in Chapter 5 with stories of Hrosný’s decipherment of
Hittite and Sir William Jones’ discovery of the links between Sanskrit and
Latin, sparking the development of modern comparative philology. After
detailing the techniques of the comparative method, Evans explains the
difference between synchrony and diachrony, then illustrates how diachronic
approaches can inform synchronic ones. Chapter 6 covers the various subfields
of linguistic archaeology, including dating archaeological sites, locating
the origins and migration patterns of language families, and using toponyms
in historical linguistics. Chapter 7 wraps up by looking at several cases in
which modern languages helped scholars to unlock previously undecipherable
scripts.

Part IV: Ratchetting Each Other Up: The Coevolution of Language, Culture, and
Thought, includes the expected discussion of Sapir-Whorfism (Ch. 8), followed
by a look at verbal art in oral societies (Ch. 9). In the introduction to
this section, Evans focuses on coevolution, pointing out that the ability to
code important information into languages decreases and in part replaces the
load on our genetics for adaption, so that culture and learning can be seen
as coevolving with our genes. His examples of linguistic relativity draw from
a variety of languages, and include excellent discussions of absolute versus
relative reckoning, metaphors for time, and shape and spatial systems in
languages. Evans concludes the chapter by noting that Sapir-Whorfism is
making a “comeback” as more and more evidence points to the fact that our
psychological categories are influenced by language. He also suggests that a
great deal can be gained from expanded cooperation between linguists and
psychologists. Chapter 9 focuses primarily on epic oral poetry, what this
requires mentally from a speaker, and how they accomplish it. Evans cites
evidence (Parry 1930) that there still exist orators capable of producing
poetry on the scale and style of Homer.

The last section, Part V: Listening While We Can, is where Evans turns to the
process of language shift or death, and language documentation (Ch. 10). This
is where he answers his original question, “What do we do about it?” He
offers a number of useful suggestions to those in the discipline, such as
training ‘insiders’ (native speakers as linguists), and notes the
inconsistent practice among universities which admit PhD candidates with
training in general linguistics, but not those with deep knowledge of an
understudied language. U.S. universities typically disdain language
documentation as an acceptable doctoral topic, despite its being “about the
most demanding intellectual task a linguist can engage in” (223). Evans also
suggests using a combination of elicited and natural data to address the fact

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that languages have an infinite combination of utterances. As he notes in
Part I, linguistics is not a science in the same way as physics, because it
rarely makes testable predictions. The great discoveries among minority
languages are typically accidents, so we must simply obtain as much data as
possible.

The Epilogue rounds out the book by recalling the death of the eloquent
informant Pat Gabori – a serious blow to the Kayardild language. Evans then
returns to his original set of questions, and reiterates the book’s central
theme: “The crucial evidence for any of these questions, and for others we
have yet to think of asking about, may lie in Eyak, Migama, Kayardild,
Kusunda, or any of the world’s 6,000 languages” (231).

EVALUATION

Evans has made an outstanding contribution toward increasing awareness of

endangered languages with this book, and it deserves to be one of the go-to
books on the topic. He does the lay reader a great service by presenting an
engaging introduction to many central topics in linguistics in a style that
is clear, intelligent, and profound. This book is an excellent choice for
anyone with an interest in language, linguist and non-linguist alike.

One of the merits of this book is that Evans approaches the topic from a
vastly different angle than others who have written on the topic. In some
ways, it appears as though he set out precisely to present arguments which
have been overlooked by other authors. Most notable is his section on world
history (Part III), and his decision to include chapters specifically on the
scope of linguistic diversity (Ch .1) and the history of our interest in it
(Ch. 2). And while other authors oscillate between discussions of endangered
CULTURES – plus all the cultural and ecological knowledge that goes with them
– and endangered LANGUAGES, Evans stays firmly focused throughout the book on
what is lost when we lose a LANGUAGE, even when discussing Sapir-Whorfism
(the exception perhaps being his chapter on oral poetry).

Whether this is a merit or a detriment is open to interpretation. Consider

David Harrison’s _When Languages Die_ (2007), where Harrison also asks the
question “What do we lose when a language dies?” but often seems to be
arguing for the intrinsic value of the associated cultures instead. By
contrast, Evans’ main argument, which he reiterates throughout the book, is
essentially that endangered languages are a rich and bountiful source of
potential data for answering many questions across a variety of scientific
and humanistic fields of inquiry. This utilitarian approach, while
convincing, might be seen as operating somewhat aloof of the speakers
themselves. In fact, much of Part III of Evans’ book (Languages and Deep
World History) tends to lose sight of endangered languages in favor of major
Indo-European ones, though this is due in part to the fact that work in
comparative philology has been done primarily on Indo-European languages.
Evans does of course include excellent illustrative examples from endangered
languages in this section as well, but these typically come at the end of the
chapter and don’t receive as much stage time as do Indo-European ones.

But on the whole the criticism that Evan’s approach is too “linguistic” is an
unfair one. Evans makes clear that he values the cultures which encompass
these languages, as evidenced by his “sense of despair at what gets lost when
such magnificent languages fall silent” (xviii). The book has several emotive
vignettes and personal accounts of speakers of these dying languages, and one
of the most impressive features of the book is the extent and variety of data

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Evans gives from endangered languages across the world. Rather than opting
for stock examples, which are easier to use but come from majority languages,
he brings an absorbing new set of data to the existing set of books on the
topic.

One final note of praise is for Evans’ treatment of Sapir-Whorfism, which is

cautiously affirming. Evans adheres to the sensible claim that language
interfaces with our psychological categories, so influencing them. He very
skillfully summarizes the topic in Chapter 8, containing its treatment to
that chapter alone. For an issue like language endangerment, where linguistic
and cultural loss are so closely intertwined, it is difficult not to let
questions of linguistic relativity seep into most aspects of the discussion,
muddling the structure of the book. There are many who would see this as a
detriment, pointing to the inseparability of language and culture, but it is
refreshing as a lay reader to be given a discrete treatment of each topic.

Evans does an outstanding job laying out the framework for discussion, and
keeping to that framework throughout the book. He does this in a thought-
provoking manner, avoiding classic examples in favor of his own, often better
ones. _Dying Words_ has its place among books for a general audience on
linguistics, makes a persuasive case for preserving endangered languages
everywhere.

REFERENCES
Crystal, D. 2002. _Language Death_. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Harrison, D. 2007. _When Languages Die: The Extinction of the World’s

Languages and the Erosion of Human Knowledge_. Oxford: Oxford University
Press.

Nettle, D.; Romaine, S. 2000. _Vanishing Voices: The Extinction of the

World’s Languages_. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Parry, Millman. 1930. Studies in the epic technique of oral verse-making,

vol. 1: Homer and the Homeric style. _Harvard Studies in Classical Philology
41_.

ABOUT THE REVIEWER

Danny Hieber is Content Editor for the Endangered Language Program at Rosetta
Stone. He holds a B.S. in Linguistics and Philosophy from The College of
William & Mary in Virginia. Currently he is working with the Chitimacha,
Navajo, and Iñupiaq language groups to create Rosetta Stone software in their
languages. His primary interests are Swahili, and language documentation and
revitalization with an eye towards theoretical implications for syntax and
semantics.