Jeremy Coburn contributes a chapter to The Handbook of Multilingualism
A new multidisciplinary volume, (Springer Nature), includes a chapter by Visiting Assistant Professor Jeremy Coburn that offers the first contemporary vitality assessment of the Hadza language based on recent fieldwork.
Coburn’s chapter, “Language Endangerment and Vitality Among the Hadzabe of Tanzania,” uses the UNESCO Language Vitality and Endangerment framework and draws on fieldwork from 2018 and 2022 across 15 Hadza communities. His analysis, grounded in observations and interviews, identifies new evidence of notable language decline among the Hadzabe and outlines the social factors driving that shift.
The book itself brings together scholarship on language maintenance, shift, loss, policy, identity, and resilience across Africa. Coburn’s contribution situates the Hadza case within that broader conversation and provides a timely, evidence-based account that can inform both research and community-driven preservation efforts.