Introduction

Abstract

"The articles in this volume originate from two sources. The manuscripts by Sérgio Meira & Spike Gildea, Francesc Queixalós, Masayoshi Shibatani & Khaled Awadh Bin Makhashen, and Willem Adelaar were selected by the editor. All others were written by researchers engaged in the Endangered Languages Programme financed by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research. The papers are organised according to the geographical distribution of the languages discussed, resulting in the following division, respectively: South America (Colombia, Suriname, Brazil and the Andes), Africa (Ethiopia, Ghana), andAsia (Yemen, East- Timor)"