Climate Migration and Tokelauan Language Endangerment

Brown, Jason and Middleton, John and Pue, Iutana (2024) Climate Migration and Tokelauan Language Endangerment. In: The Routledge Handbook of Translation and Migration. Routledge, Oxon and New York, pp. 71-83. ISBN 9781003287797

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Abstract

Migration motivated by anthropogenic climate change is expected to affect a significant population of individuals in the near- to- immediate future. As a direct consequence of climate change and the subsequent migration that it triggers, migrant languages face an existential threat. This chapter examines the flow- on effect of climate change to Pacific languages, and how this leads to an increased demand for language resources for migrant languages. This will be highlighted by observing the case study of Tokelau, an island state which is expected to be among the first to suffer the consequences of climate change, and where migration has already resulted in more Tokelauan speakers being located in diasporic regions than in the islands themselves. The first section of the chapter investigates climate-change-induced migration in the Pacific. The second section introduces Tokelau as our case example and discusses, firstly, the Tokelau language, and, secondly, the effects of climate change. This is followed by a discussion of the Hawaiian and New Zealand Tokelauan diasporic communities. The final section of the case study considers the need for Tokelauan translation.

Item Type:	Book Chapter
Subjects:	P Language and Literature > PL Languages and literatures of Eastern Asia, Africa, Oceania
Divisions:	School of Pacific Arts, Communication and Education (SPACE)
Depositing User:	John Middleton
Date Deposited:	03 Jun 2025 21:43
Last Modified:	03 Jun 2025 21:43
URI:	https://repository.usp.ac.fj/id/eprint/14959

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