Language Decline and Death in Africa

Dr. Herman M. Batibo is Professor of African Linguistics at the University of Botswana, Southern Africa. He was born in Mwanza, Tanzania, in 1947. He obtained his PhD at the University of La Sorbonne, Paris, in 1977. His other major publications include Le kesukuma: phonologie et morphologie ([1977] 1985), La Tanzanie: L’ujamaa face aux réalités (edited with Denis Martin, 1989), The Role of Language in the Discovery of Cultural History (1996), The State of Khoesan Languages in Botswana (edited with J. Tsonope, 2000), Botswana: The Future of the Minority Languages (edited with Birgit Smieja, 2000). Professor Batibo is currently the President of the Standing Committee of the World Congress of African Linguistics.

• Preface1: The Languages of Africa2: Patterns of Language Use in Africa3: African Languages as a Resource4: The Minority Languages of Africa5: The Endangered Languages of Africa6: Language Shift and Death in Africa7: Language Maintenance8: Language Empowerment MeasuresReferencesIndexAppendix

This is an excellent introduction to the topic of endangered languages in Africa.