Endangered Languages:

Integrating Theory and Practice

June 17-18, 2027

Boğaziçi University

Istanbul

Co-organized by

Comité International Permanent des Linguistes (CIPL)

This two-day workshop on endangered languages aims to link theoretical aspects of language endangerment, such as language contact and change, with practical considerations, including the documentation and linguistic analysis of real-world data. It aims to provide a forum for presenting and discussing any aspect of language endangerment, focusing on, but not limited to, Eurasian languages.

According to estimates by UNESCO (Moseley, 2010) and Ethnologue (Eberhard et al. 2025), more than 40% of the world’s extant languages are endangered to varying degrees, a situation comparable to the ongoing crisis of biodiversity loss. Understanding why languages become endangered and identifying the conditions under which language diversity can be preserved and revitalized require attention to a range of interrelated psychological, social, economic, and political factors.

The organizers invite researchers to contribute to this workshop by exploring language endangerment and language preservation from a range of perspectives, including linguistic, sociolinguistic, and psycholinguistic approaches, as well as typological factors and issues related to documentation and archiving.

Potential topics to be covered include, but not limited to:

• Endangerment among Eurasian languages

• Descriptive, typological or theoretic linguistic analysis of vulnerable or endangered languages

• Documentation and archiving of endangered languages

• Ways of preserving language diversity

• The role of language technologies in endangerment research

• Interdisciplinary approaches in endangerment research