Flourishing in the Shadow of Giants

Can minority languages continue to flourish in the 21st century? This book tells you how the Sebuyau of Malaysia have managed to pull that off. They have preserved their unique way of speaking in spite of being surrounded by the powerful English, Chinese, and Malay languages. Even more amazing is that they have left their traditional culture, yet keep their indigenous language alive. In this book you will learn some of the mechanisms they use to resist language shift, and come to understand the language ecology in which Sebuyau is embedded. The information in this book was gathered over the course of five years while Stan Anonby lived among the Sebuyau. He learned their language, participated in their community, and carefully observed and analysed the way they spoke.