Nobody asked, but here’s my Review of “Revivalistics” by Ghil’ad Zuckermann
Tldr; A good introduction to the field of language revival and reclamation (reclamation = bringing a language with no speakers back into existence), but the content could be a little more broad.
Ghil’ad Zuckermann is an Israeli linguist at the University of Adelaide in Australia, working with endangered and dormant aboriginal languages. In Revivalistics, Ghil’ad discusses the ins and outs of the process of reclaiming languages, focusing mainly on Hebrew, which is considered a major success story in language reclamation.
For Hebrew, which is discussed in over half the book, Zuckermann takes a deep look into how the language existed before revival, and the effects (phonological, grammatical, and lexical) of other languages (primarily Yiddish) on its reclamation in the late 19th century. These effects have all culminated into what Zuckermann calls a “hybrid” language with multiple lineages, contrary to the family tree model of language history. Zuckermann also refers to the language as “Israeli”, going against the more popular term “Modern Hebrew” given the nature of its existence and difference from its Biblical ancestry. The core of this discussion is that a reclaimed language necessarily contains elements from the native language of the reclaimers.
The success of Hebrew’s reclamation had several key factors. First, was that Hebrew was an active liturgical language. Not spoken natively, but known to some degree by practitioners. Second, there was a strong desire at the time for a new national identity for Zionists moving to Palestine. Third, there was overwhelming financial and social support. These allowed the language to grow quickly, to the extent that it has now developed its own natural changes over time.
In chapter 6/9, Zuckermann starts to discuss other revival projects, focusing now on aboriginal languages in Australia. Of particular interest is his ongoing work with the Barngarla community, whose language had stopped being spoken in the 1960s. Zuckermann discusses linguicide and glottophagy, as well as the important issues of authenticity and emblematicity- that the desire for reclaiming the language “as it was originally” is impossible given the constraints of reclamation due to the reclaimers’ native language interference. Reclaimers should focus more on emblematicity in Zuckermann’s view, which is more pragmatic and appreciate the language’s “inevitable hybridity”.
Chapter 7 discusses the importance of technology in language reclamation, using examples like mobile and computer applications. Chapter 8 talks about the tangible social and economic benefits that language reclamation has on its community, the human right to a language, as well as making the case for a legal title (i.e. compensation) for language reclamation work. This, however, is specific to those communities in Australia, who have several existing titles and institutions to work with. The last chapter talks about the mental health of communities reclaiming their languages, using data from studies in Canada and the United States as well as the author’s own experiences with the Barngarla community.
Overall, this book takes a specialized but deep look into the interdisciplinary field of language revival and reclamation for Israeli and Barngarla, comparing the processes and what is really required to bring a language back from dormancy. As languages naturally change, Zuckermann argues that language hybridity in reclamation is unavoidable but should be celebrated rather than discouraged. Language reclamation has measurable, tangible benefits for a community, and more funding is needed to ensure that the community does not suffer cultural, social, and economic collapse. Critically, I would have liked to see less detail on the specifics of Israeli and instead have a more broad panel of reclaimed languages to look at, things like Wampanoag, Myaamia, Tunica, and Chitimacha, comparing the different social and institutional barriers that exist for those language reclamation projects. More generally, I am unsure of what Zuckermann meant this book to be. It is written academically, peppered with Latin academic phrases that I had to look up, as well as linguistic terminology that would be opaque to the layperson. But it also looks like it is trying to be a sort of guide for language reclamation. Given my aforementioned criticism of the missing breadth of languages, I don’t think this version of the book is well-suited for that. This book is a great start, but there is certainly a lot more work that needs to be done to establish the field of revivalistics and I look forward to seeing new additions to this work by Zuckermann and others. 7/10, Would recommend for all linguists.
