Abstract: The next century will see more than half of the world's 6000 languages become extinct, and most of these will disappear without being adequately recorded. Written by one of the leading figures in language documentation, "Dying Words" asks what is lost to our collective intellectual heritage with the death of these languages. It explores the unique philosophy, knowledge, and cultural assumptions of languages, and their impact on our collective intellectual heritage. It questions why such linguistic diversity exists in the first place, and how can we can best respond to the challenge of recording and documenting these fragile oral traditions while they are still with us. It brings conceptual issues vividly to life by weaving in portraits of individual 'last speakers' and anecdotes about linguists and their discoveries.