Over the few past centuries, and the last 65 years in particular, there has been a tremendous reduction in global linguistic diversity, as people abandon minority language varieties and switch to larger and what they perceive to be more economically, socially and politically powerful regional or national languages. In addition, governments have been promoting standardised official languages for use in schooling, media and bureaucracy, often under a rubric of linguistic unity supporting national unity. The last two decades have seen a significant increase in interest in minority languages and...
Over the few past centuries, and the last 65 years in particular, there has been a tremendous reduction in global linguistic diversity, as people aban...