LANGUAGE ENDANGERMENT AND PRESERVATION IN SOUTH ASIA

South Asia is rich not only in languages, but also in scripts. However, the various roles script can play in this region have been only marginally explored. Besides an overview of the most important examples from South Asia in which script has contributed to the VWUHQJWKHQLQJRUZHDNHQLQJRIDODQJXDJHRUWRWKHFODVVL¿FDWLRQRI DWRQJXHDVDODQJXDJHRUGLDOHFWWKLVSDSHURIIHUV¿UVWLQSXWVIRUD discussion on the role of script today in smaller speech communities which lack a long literary tradition. Especially in cases of script invention, script is not only allocated the role of an identity marker for the speech community, but seems to be expected to strengthen WKHODQJXDJHLWVHOIDQG¿QDOO\WRDFWDVDSUHVHUYHURIWKHPLQRULW\ language. 1. INTRODUCTION. Given that South Asi