Minimal Languages in Action

Cliff Goddard

may 2021 · Springer Nature

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This edited book explores the rising interest in minimal languages – radically simplified languages using cross-translatable words and grammar, fulfilling the widely-recognised need to use language which is clear, accessible and easy to translate. The authors draw on case studies from around the world to demonstrate how early adopters have been putting Minimal English, Minimal Finnish, and other minimal languages into action: in language teaching and learning, ‘easy language’ projects, agricultural development training, language revitalisation, intercultural education, paediatric assessment, and health messaging. As well as reporting how minimal languages are being put into service, the contributors explore how minimal languages can be adapted, localised and implemented differently for different purposes. Like its predecessor Minimal English for a Global World: Improved Communication Using Fewer Words (Palgrave Macmillan, 2018), the book will appeal to students and scholars of applied linguistics, language education and translation studies, as well as to professionals in any field where accessibility and translatability matter.

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Cliff Goddard is Professor of Linguistics at Griffith University, Australia and a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Humanities. Much of his research lies at the intersection of language, meaning and culture. He has published widely in descriptive, theoretical and applied semantics, language description and typology, ethnopragmatics and intercultural communication.