Evangelia Adamou 🦋
@evangelia.bsky.social
Linguist, Senior Researcher at CNRS, Paris — Latest book📙ENDANGERED LANGUAGES, MIT press https://bit.ly/3WdDmra
“we show that the proportion of languages no longer transmitted to younger generations is substantially lower than originally assumed.”
Simon J. Greenhill@simongreenhill.bsky.social · yesterdayWhat do we know about the language extinction rate? doi.org/10.1017/ext.2026.10019
The arguments against language reclamation haven't changed much in the nearly 20 years I've been working in this field: "It costs too much." "People are choosing to abandon their languages, so let them." "They have no practical use." "It's just sentimental nostalgia." Fuck All That, a thread:
Sometimes It’s O.K. to Let a Language Die
When cultural preservation comes at the expense of speakers’ decisions, sometimes it's O.K. to let a language die.
newyorker.com
I have a new paper out in Science today with colleagues Damian Blasi, Marcus Hamilton, and Russell Gray. www.science.org/doi/epdf/10....
The rise and fall of language diversity through the Holocene
Characterizing the factors that have shaped linguistic diversity is fundamental for understanding human history, culture, and cognition. In this study, we combined statistical and social computational...
science.org
“these results show that the current endangerment crisis has deep roots beyond the most recent colonial period”
Damián Blasi@damianblasi.bsky.social · 2w agoHow many languages have existed over the Holocene—and what does that reveal about the design space of languages and cultures? Now out in @science.org www.science.org/eprint/QDZNY....
What are endangered languages and how do did 58% of the world’s language become endangered? This recent book is an introduction to language endangerment.
A new article about how toddlers in Finland's 'language nests' are learning an endangered Sámi language years after the end of boarding schools in Finnish only www.bbc.com/future/artic...
How toddlers in Finland's 'language nests' are saving an endangered Sámi language
Special nurseries are helping the Sámi people in Finland to bring their almost-lost language back from the brink of extinction.
bbc.com
A good read and a hot cuppa tea in the fresh air – what’s not to like? 🍵☺️ The recommended read: The #Balkan #Linguistic Area: Mapping Variation and Contact, by Evangelia Adamou @evangelia.bsky.social and Andrey N. Sobolev. 📗 www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783111389936/html
Webb says he has a different metric for measuring success. “Happiness,” he says. “When we bring our children up to feel really good about who they are through their language and through their culture, then all other learning is sorted.” #LangSky #linguistics
Evangelia Adamou 🦋@evangelia.bsky.social · 7mo ago“Dozens of NSW schools teach Aboriginal languages but this is the state’s only bilingual school. GGFS is open only to Indigenous students from kindergarten to year 8. They attend at least one language class every day and have weekly lessons on country.” #LangSky www.theguardian.com/news/2025/de...
“Dozens of NSW schools teach Aboriginal languages but this is the state’s only bilingual school. GGFS is open only to Indigenous students from kindergarten to year 8. They attend at least one language class every day and have weekly lessons on country.” #LangSky www.theguardian.com/news/2025/de...
The Australian school spearheading an Indigenous language revival
At Gumbaynggirr Giingana Freedom School – the first Aboriginal bilingual school in New South Wales – success is judged by an unconventional metric: happiness
theguardian.com
"Dr Raukura Roa and Prof Tom Roa (2023) defined te reo trauma as 'the emotional, psychological, physical and spiritual harm felt by Māori individuals due to a lack of proficiency in te reo Māori.' It is rooted in the colonial history and .. [continuing] socio-cultural and economic disparities."
Study shows the experience of Māori grappling with 'te reo trauma'
The new report noted that this can manifest in various ways "including language anxiety and feelings of shame (whakamā) for not being able to speak te reo Māori.
rnz.co.nz
Evangelia Adamou 🦋@evangelia.bsky.social · 8mo ago"’The three interviewees all illustrate the profound experiences of trauma associated with the absence of te reo Māori in their upbringing (…)’ all three of the interviewees have pushed through the reo trauma to continue learning to speak” #LangSky #linguistics www.rnz.co.nz/news/te-manu...
"’The three interviewees all illustrate the profound experiences of trauma associated with the absence of te reo Māori in their upbringing (…)’ all three of the interviewees have pushed through the reo trauma to continue learning to speak” #LangSky #linguistics www.rnz.co.nz/news/te-manu...
Study shows the experience of Māori grappling with 'te reo trauma'
The new report noted that this can manifest in various ways "including language anxiety and feelings of shame (whakamā) for not being able to speak te reo Māori.
rnz.co.nz
“There's an inequality. That's where I get frustrated and angry. I get sad … we keep losing Elders every day. And it's almost like everything's against us…” #Indigenous #language #rights #Canada #law #UNDRIP
New book presents legal argument for Indigenous language education rights
The new book Living Language Rights: Constitutional Pathways to Indigenous Language Education is more than the author’s vision to return to a time when Indigenous languages flourished in Canada. Loren...
windspeaker.com
My book The Unnaming of Kroeber Hall: Language, Memory, and Indigenous California (2023) is now open-access to read or download: escholarship.org/uc/item/59w3... Thanks to @mitpress.bsky.social, where you can still buy lovely print copies (mitpress.mit.edu/978026254709...).
Job alert! 3 tenured research positions at CNRS, France with one preferably in philosophy of language Get in touch with a lab for more information #linguistics www.legifrance.gouv.fr/jorf/id/JORF...
legifrance.gouv.fr
new paper just out! An online sentence comprehension study in Pitjantjatjara, an ergative, free word order language doi.org/10.1080/2327...
Real-time thematic role assignment in Pitjantjatjara: an eye-tracking study
Languages differ in how core argument roles are marked and in the cues guiding their real-time comprehension. This study investigated thematic role assignment in Pitjantjatjara – an Australian Pama...
doi.org
“Our language was not dead – it’d been asleep” Carl McGrady www.theguardian.com/news/2025/de...
At Boobera Lagoon, I dip my toes into learning a long-dormant language
I’ve travelled to my grandfather’s tiny home town of Toomelah to discover how words, stories, country and culture intersect
theguardian.com
“A smartphone game is part of a push to save critically endangered Nyiyaparli in the Pilbara, while an NT radio station helps keep Yolŋu matha strong” #linguistics www.theguardian.com/news/2025/de...
Nyiyaparli leaders are saving their language by taking it to young people where they are – on their phones
A smartphone game is part of a push to save critically endangered Nyiyaparli in the Pilbara, while an NT radio station helps keep Yolŋu matha strong
theguardian.com
“We weren’t really thinking that we would ever revive a language,” she says. “I think we amaze ourselves sometimes. There we were – not only were we as a people on the brink of extinction – but here we are now, a thriving people with our own language.”🥰 www.theguardian.com/news/2025/de...
The labour of love breathing life back into palawa kani – the lost language of Lutruwita
Aboriginal children are being born in Tasmania today knowing the sounds of their ancient tongue. They are the first to do so for 150 years
theguardian.com
Why Indigenous Communities Don’t Celebrate Thanksgiving and What We Must Learn kgnu.org/why-indigeno...
Why Indigenous Communities Don’t Celebrate Thanksgiving and What We Must Learn
kgnu.org
Friday at 9am Hawaii - join us for the final session of the 2025 Language Documentation Learning Series! We’ll talk about Indigenous language revitalization, and how to find funding for this work. All are welcome, and this event (like all ELP programs) is free! Register at: bit.ly/langdoc2025
Our paper is now available at Glossa Contact! Cross-linguistic priming in comprehension facilitates change in adjective-noun order: Eye-tracking evidence from Romani-Romanian and Romani-Serbian bilinguals #linguistics www.glossacontact.org/index.php/gc...
Cross-linguistic priming in comprehension facilitates change in adjective-noun order | Glossa Contact
glossacontact.org
I'm attending #LSA2026 online this year, AND they've let me put myself in charge of having virtual social opportunities, so if you want to socialize with me and other linguists at LSA (and I hope you do because I wanna hang out with linguists!) that's going to happen online too!
Jessi Grieser@jessgrieser.com · 9mo ago🧵Register for virtual attendance at the #LSA2026 conference! You can filter the 2026 LSA Annual Meeting Program for the Track "Hybrid" and see the 45 sessions that virtual registrants will be able to attend. www.linguisticsociety.org. And some real talk below:
tuned into some of the nunavut election broadcast and it was so cool to see how seamlessly they switched between english and (what i assume was) inuktitut. we should really be hearing more of the indigenous languages in canada.
Rick Harp @mediaindigena.bsky.social tonight at the BFF symposium at UBC-Vancouver: "Indigenous language revitalization is climate change solution." A glorious possibility. And we have also to deal with oligarch nihilism for our planet and for all of the Peoples. Begin by disbelieving them.
Beyond Fires & Floods (BFF): Indigenous Narratives in an Era of Extremes - UBCevents
How have Indigenous narratives helped Indigenous peoples cope with and confront climate change? What does it mean to see and story climate change not so much as a problem, but […]
events.ubc.ca
Manitoba is expanding its degree programs in Ojibwe and Cree. This is an example of the good that can happen when you elect a progressive, indigenous leader to run things.
“the title of my book, is derived from the traditional way to give the morning greeting in Secwepemctsin - that's my family's language, my Indigenous language. We say tsecwinucw-k, which doesn't actually translate to good morning. It means you survived the night.” www.npr.org/2025/10/13/n...
'We Survived the Night' tells a story of survival and the Indigenous experience
NPR's Michel Martin speaks with Julian Brave NoiseCat, an Oscar-nominated filmmaker and writer, about his new book, "We Survived the Night."
npr.org
The 2025 revitalization showcase from @e-l-p.bsky.social looks like it will be a wonderful celebration of different revitalization projects from around the world. Not the best timing for an Australian audience, but tune in if you're elsewhere. endangeredlanguages.com/event/ready-...
Ready to Revitalize: 2025 Project Showcase | Endangered Languages Project
endangeredlanguages.com
In honor of Indigenous People's Day, here's a very brief timeline of the revitalization of ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi. hilo.hawaii.edu/chancellor/s...
Mahina ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi! ʻŌlelo Resource of the Month: A timeline of significant milestones for Hawaiian language - UH Hilo Stories
In the second of a new monthly column, UH Hilo Director of Native Hawaiian Engagement Pele Harman shares a timeline of significant milestones for Hawaiian language.
hilo.hawaii.edu