Indigenous languages – why are they endangered and how can they be preserved?

(This event will be held in Bulgarian with some parts in French and English. The original title in Bulgarian is:  Автохтонните езици: защо са застрашени и как да бъдат съхранени?)

*****

On Monday, May 27, 2019, the Faculty of Classical and Modern Philology at Sofia University is organising a symposium on indigenous languages around the world. This is a topic about which little is known in Bulgaria and the event aims at attracting more attention to the issues related to language endangerment and indigenous communities.

The event will feature talks by the following researchers:

• Tihomir Rangelov will talk about indigenous languages, language endangerment, language documentation, the languages of Vanuatu and the Oceanic language Ahamb as an example of an endangered indigenous language,
• Svetlana Koleva will talk about endangered Uralic languages,
• Patricia Couture will talk about the languages of Canada,
• Gueorgui Jetchev will talk about the indigenous languages of New Caledonia.

The event will finish with a discussion. It is free of charge and open to anyone willing to attend.