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Elsewhere on the web
Basic Oral Language Documentation (BOLD)
Born after the UNESCO International Mother Language Day, on February 21, 2010, the BOLD project focuses on the recording and transcription of the oral languages of Papua New Guinea. They aim to collect data on around a hundred languages spoken around the country. PNG is home to a total of approximately 800, many of which are seriously threatened and lack consistent documentation.
We’ll be keeping our eyes (and ears) open on this great initiative.
Survival International, The Movement for Tribal Peoples
Survival International, founded in Great Britain in 1969, works to defend the rights of indigenous peoples around the world. Present in 82 countries, the organization works alongside these indigenous populations to help them to continue living on their own lands, according to their own cultures and lifestyles.
Terralingua
The primary objective of Terralingua is the protection of bio-cultural diversity. Based on a belief in the inextricable link between biological, linguistic and cultural diversity, the international organization works to preserve the diversity of the earth’s languages.
Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languages
The Living Tongues Institute is an organization which documents endangered languages and assists indigenous communities with the preservation and revitalization of their languages. The Institute is headed by linguists Dr. Gregory D. S. Anderson and Dr. K. David Harrison.
Portalingua – the site of neo-Latin languages
This site provides access to existing online resources (websites, lists and newsgroups, and FTP sites) on the neo-Latin languages and partners, including lesser-used languages of non Latin origin but spoken in the areas where the official languages are neo-Latin. Portalingua also offers other services such as a linguistic classification of the languages covered, a calendar of events, statistics on languages, and access to radio programming or newspapers for lesser used languages.
Forvo – All the words in the world. Pronounced.
Forvo is is the largest guide to pronunciation in the world. The site hosts around 500 000 words each pronounced by native speakers of 231 languages – some of which endangered. It’s a totally free user-friendly community website; unique, worthwhile and fun. Check it out!
Linguist Alexandre François’s homepage on Vanuatu languages
Alexandre François is a field linguist working on 17 Melanesian languages from the Torres and Banks Islands, in Vanuatu. As you might remember, Vanuatu bears the world’s highest linguistic density with an average of 110 languages for 200,000 inhabitants. Most of these languages are endangered, hence the importance of Alexandre François’s work.
His website offers an accessible overview on these northern Vanuatu islands’ amazing linguistic diversity. You’ll find tales to listen to, links, maps, online publications, short stories, photos and more on this area of the Pacific’s languages and cultures.
You’ll also find a trilingual Araki dictionary. Remember Araki? A Vanuatu language currently spoken by no more than eight speakers… it is Araki that gave the word sorosoro: “speech, story, language” (from the root soro: “breathe, speak”).
Alexandre François’s homepage : http://alex.francois.free.fr
