ABSTRACT
Linguistic revitalisation is a global phenomenon that has become increasingly widespread in recent years. By most accounts, it began on a large scale roughly two to three decades ago when many minorities and indigenous peoples first experienced what is sometimes known as the “ethnic renaissance”. Many such groups had previously been subject to severe linguistic assimilation policies and it was only natural that reclaiming and securing the native language became a central element in many of these ethnic movements. Today, as reflected in the papers of this volume, linguistic revitalisation is taking place on all continents, from China to Ecuador and from South Africa to the Arctic North. Some of the revitalisation movements appear to be desperate, last-minute efforts to save an almost extinct language; others, in contrast, seem to be growing in both momentum and strength, and attracting ever-widening circles of participants.
