From Fieldwork to Reconstruction: Historical Issues in Hotspots of Linguistic Diversity

ABSTRACT

This special issue aims to explore the advances in historical linguistics that are made possible by the ongoing documentation of underdescribed and endangered languages. About this special issue The present special issue evolved out of the two-day workshop I From fieldwork to reconstruction Language documentation and historical linguistics i , convened by the editor on 7-8 November 2018 at the Language and Culture Research Centre (James Cook University), Cairns, Australia. Although communication during the pandemic has highlighted many linguistic barriers and a huge divide between hegemonic and minority languages (see López 2020 for Latin America), there has been an unprecedented worldwide production of health information materials in indigenous languages (see CEJIS 2020, among others, for some examples in Bolivian languages), which was also made possible by linguistic research. Meanwhile, the COVID-19 pandemic has made the description of minority languages even more urgent, as coronavirus has often hit the hardest those vulnerable communities in which endangered languages are spoken, causing the death of many language keepers. [Extracted from the article] Copyright of Studia Linguistica is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)