Endangered Metaphors

“Perhaps the major issue facing linguists today is the phenomenon of language endangerment. [...] Metaphors are a particularly interesting area of language because of their interaction with both language and culture, providing an insight into the ways in which different cultures come to terms with their environments, an insight that will be lost if the metaphorical systems of different languages disappear without being documented. It is therefore with great pleasure that I recommend the present volume to a broad linguistic readership. The editors and contributors have succeeded in bringing together and systematizing a wide range of phenomena involving metaphors in endangered languages [...]. I join them in encouraging others to continue their work by documenting metaphors in endangered languages, always bearing in mind that metaphors may be one of the first parts of a language to disappear once it becomes endangered.”

“ Endangered Metaphors offers a fascinating collection of articles looking at metaphoric language in languages that are slowly vanishing from the world's landscape. These chapters focus on many issues related to metaphor theory, including questions on the universality and cultural specificity of conceptual metaphors, and topics associated with globalization in human languages and culture. The range of linguistic data explored is incredibly impressive [...]. Endangered Metaphors is a wonderful addition to the new book series on Cognitive Linguistic Studies in Cultural Contexts.
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“The book breaks new ground in empirical and theoretical metaphor and idiom research, since it looks at the figurative lexicon of endangered minority languages that have never before been the topic of metaphor or idiom research. Therefore, the book is highly innovative and stimulating. The fifteen articles treat significant issues of figurative language and its cultural foundation in languages of five continents. […] No similar publication exists to date.”

“[...] this volume represents a commendable empirical contribution to data both on minority languages and on metaphor. The comprehensive background provided in the prologue makes this work accessible reading for anyone interested in the study of underrepresented languages or metaphor, or in cognitive linguistics more generally.”

““Endangered Metaphors” is a thought-provoking volume opening windows for future explorations. The focus of this compilation is not on the vulnerability of minority languages, but rather on the vulnerability of the metaphors used by their speakers as a consequence of the progressive change towards new figurative expressions through borrowing from majority languages. Consequently, the book is of great interest not only for linguists working in the field of endangered languages, for whom the focus on figurative language use may constitute a pleasant novelty, but also for readers interested in the intertwine between language and culture. The articles in this book are immensely inspiring and contribute effectively to our understanding of this relationship.”