Exploring ethical frameworks for valuing endangered languages

The Laudato Si' Research Institute at Campion Hall, University of Oxford, in partnership with North Eastern Institute of Language and Culture (NEILAC), Guwahati, is hosting a four-part online seminar series on the issue of endangered languages. It will bring together academics from the University of Oxford and from NEILAC, as well as other partners.

The endangerment of tribal languages is a salient issue, with some linguists estimating that between 50% and 90% of current spoken language systems will be severely endangered or dead by the year 2100. But as well as intrinsic loss, endangered languages often provide an index for wider issues of cultural, political and economic marginalization of some of the world’s most vulnerable populations. A transdisciplinary approach, inspired by principles of integral ecology, can contribute to deeper analysis of this important contemporary frontier issue.