Language maintenance: Why bother?

Abstract

What do we mean by ' ‘language maintenance’? It is an enterprise that, understandably, has the support of most linguists, but for what reasons, and to what possible outcome? There are at least seven arguments used in defence of the effort placed on maintaining Australian Aboriginal languages, and these are discussed and evaluated in this paper. While each has merit, it is ultimately by appeal to morality and social justice that we find justification for Aboriginal language maintenance. © 1990, Walter de Gruyter