In Search of Hidden Languages

Authors

• Jaakko Anhava

Abstract

In recent research there have been several reports of discoveries of hitherto
“hidden” languages. What is a “hidden language”? Just as languages can be endangered
or go extinct in several different ways, they can also remain “hidden”,
either from scholars doing research or from the surrounding society, for different
reasons. In this article, I will sketch these possibilities. I have taken the term
“hidden language” from K. David Harrison’s book on endangered languages
(Harrison 2010).