A phonological and sociolinguistic study of variation in Deori: An endangered language
Funding Agency : ICSSR
Principal Investigator: Shakuntala Mahanta
Co-investigator:
Duration/Starting Year: 2012-07-15 to 2015-07-14
Status: Completed
The implications of the results gained from the outcome of the project will be important in understanding how a language which exists with the threat of extinction for many decades changes itself both grammatically as well as in social contexts. Therefore, the results of the study will show if variation is one of the key linguistic parameters of determining language endangerment. The changes and variations in Deori will also be instructive in understanding whether the extent of variation is a result of imbibing the extant grammatical properties of the dominant languages. The results will be indicative of the extremely vulnerable nature of languages which exist with the threat of extinction. The results will also provide a set of diagnostics for understanding the needs of languages which face extinction.
The results of this study will have implications for the fields of education, linguistics, cultural studies and more specifically for knowledge development in teaching and learning an endangered language. The knowledge gained through this study aims to create greater understanding, awareness and appreciation of the practice of indigenous language revitalization generally, and of the pedagogical implications specific to severely endangered languages.