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  • Issues of minority peoples ed. by Frances Karttunen, Jan-Ola Östman
  • Edward J. Vajda
Issues of minority peoples. Ed. by Frances Karttunen and Jan-Ola Östman. (Department of General Linguistics publication 31.) Helsinki: University of Helsinki, 2000. Pp. iv, 140.

During the late 1990’s several scholars at the University of Helsinki’s Department of General Linguistics embarked on the creation of a center devoted to the study of lesser-known and endangered languages, particularly those of the Americas. An outgrowth of that new direction, this short volume combines papers by the university’s professors and graduate students with writings by recent visiting scholars. Though its title conceals it, the book deals primarily with the sociohistorical phenomenon of language endangerment. The editors identify the book’s general theme as composed of several related topics, including global loss of linguistic and biological diversity, modern pressures toward linguistic and cultural assimilation, and the efforts currently under way to revitalize or at least document the world’s disappearing languages.

The three sections composing the book are entitled ‘Issues’, ‘Case studies’, and ‘Epilogue’. The ‘issues’ section contains three articles. In ‘Expansion and collision’ (13–15), historian Alfred Crosby combines ecological and linguistic history in a brief essay devoted to the origin of language diversity and the factors threatening it today. ‘Raising the alarm for endangered languages’ (16–36), by Frances Karttunen, continues this discussion in an equally engaging way, comparing efforts to revitalize endangered languages in Ireland, New Zealand, and Hawaii, among other places. Both essays reiterate points articulated by the authors in their earlier writings (notably ‘Language death, language genesis, and world history’, Frances Karttunen & Alfred Crosby, Journal of world history 6(2).157–74, 1995). Jan-Ola Östman’s ‘Ethics and appropriation—with special reference to Hwalbáy’ (37–60) discusses ethical questions faced by linguists writing about or performing fieldwork in conjunction with indigenous peoples or minorities; the author uses specific examples from Hualapai (spelled Hwalbáy in the tribe’s own writing system).

Only one of the ‘case studies’ in the book really qualifies as such from a linguistic standpoint. In ‘Towards additive multilingualism: A sociolinguistics perspective on the maintenance of Alabama and Coushatta in Texas’ (63–97), Helena Halmari discusses the results of her fieldwork among a group that has preserved fluency in two Muskogean languages. The article surveys the relevant sociolinguistic history and provides an excellent evaluation of current linguistic attitudes, with specific suggestions for language maintenance and revitalization. Dianaben-Aaron’s ‘Language and minorities on U.S. Independence Day: “A note of color” ’ (99–130) is an essay on recent American ethnohistory and the evolution of public perceptions of American nationalism.

The book’s ‘epilogue’, written by Alfred Crosby and Frances Karttunen and entitled ‘Biodiversity and linguistic diversity: Collision and reduction’ (133–40), returns to the theme of the massive loss of indigenous American languages due to sociopolitical and ecological factors during the past half-millennium. Language shift among immigrant communities in the United States is also discussed, based on the specific example of the Wendish (Sorbian) population of Central Texas.

This rather short book is a heartfelt and welcome addition to the growing literature on language endangerment. However, with the exception of H’s article on Alabama and Coushatta, the individual contributions qualify mainly as good popular science writing intended for a general audience and offer little of novelty for the serious linguist.

Edward J. Vajda
Western Washington University
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