Terry Crowley (linguist): Difference between revisions

At the time of his early death, -a tragedy for his field of expertise, in the words of [[Alexandre François]],{{sfn|François|2007|p=430}} - Crowley was working on writing grammars and dictionaries of 18 languages.{{sfn|Crowley|2007|p=xii}} In a book published posthumously, Crowley wrote of the urgency of doing ''dirty-boots'' linguistic fieldwork, with the ethical imperative of enabling thousands of cultures at risk of extinction to have their linguistic patrimony recorded, so that their descendants might thereby avoid the tragic consequences of the loss of [[Tasmanian languages]]. Almost nothing of structural value was transmitted in written archives by the time of [[Truganini]]'s death, a fact which deprives all [[Aboriginal Tasmanians|Palawa of Aboriginal descent]] of both their cultural identity and the land claims which can only be pursued if continuity can be proven. Crowley perceived his salvage campaign among far-flung languages in this light, as securing for future generations a heritage that would otherwise be lost, to their detriment.{{sfn|Crowley|2007|pp=1-11}}