Endangered Languages in India’s Western Himalayas

IIAS Public Lecture
Thursday, 7 July 2005
15.30-17.00 hrs
Nonnensteeg 1-3, Room 329

Endangered Languages in India’s Western Himalayas. A Sociolinguistic Overview

Presented by: Prof. Suhnu Ram Sharma (Gonda Fellow at IIAS)

The present overview will provide the state of sociolinguistic affairs and language endangerment and language maintenance in the region.

Diversity is the hallmark of India. The Western Himalayas is one of the regions with a good number of linguistic and socio-cultural groups maintaining their languages and cultures in a fast changing world.

Most of the languages spoken in this region belong to Tibeto-Burman language family. The population is diverse, practising Buddhism, Islam and Hinduism along with their local indigenous practices and faiths. The present overview will provide the state of sociolinguistic affairs and language endangerment and language maintenance in the region.

Professor Suhnu Ram Sharma has been working on the Tibeto-Burman and Indo-Aryan languages in the state of Uttranchal and Himachal for more than two decades. He is Professor of Tibeto- Burman linguistics at Deccan College, Post-graduate & Research Institute Pune, India and teaches Linguistics, conducts and guides research in the subject. He has published two books and about two dozens of research articles. Currently he is Gonda Fellow and engaged in preparing a Grammar of Manchad Language.

For more information, please contact:
IIAS Fellowships
Nonnensteeg 1-3
2311 VJ, Leiden
Tel: 071-5272227
Fax: 071-5274162
iiasfellowships@let.leidenuniv.nl