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They work on endangered languages
Although today most of the world’s languages have been identified, only a portion of them have actually been documented. It is difficult to give precise figures, but probably more than half of the 6000 known languages are either not yet documented or very poorly documented. For instance, in Papua New Guinea only a dozen languages out of the 800 spoken in the country have been described in detail.
As a result, around the World researchers, linguists and anthropologists are racing against time to preserve the linguistic diversity of our planet. Below are the links to the websites of some of the institutions and organizations working on the subject:
Universities, laboratories and research funding
France
- DDL (Dynamique Du Langage)
Created in 1994, the DDL laboratory is a Université Lumière Lyon 2 / CNRS Mixed Research Unit. The Laboratory is divided into two sections dedicated to Africa and Latin America respectively.
DDL is also one of the rare institutions providing higher education training focused on the description of endangered languages.
- CELIA (Centre d’Etudes des Langues Indigènes d’Amérique) – CNRS
(Center for the Study of Indigenous Languages of America)
CELIA is an organization created in 1973 within the CNRS. Its team works on Native American languages in – amongst other places – Brazil, Peru and Mexico. Since 1976 they have been publishing an annual ethno-linguistic magazine entitled Amerindia focused on the study of Indigenous American languages in France.
Centre d’Etudes des Langues Indigènes d’Amérique
- LACITO (Langues et Civilisations à Tradition Orale) – CNRS
(Oral Tradition Languages and Civilizations)
LACITO is a CNRS organization devoted primarily to the study and documentation of oral tradition languages and civilizations. The LACITO oral archives program, found on the organization’s website, offers access to audio documents of “rare” languages recorded in their original social context, and transcribed in collaboration with the native speakers. It holds over 200 documents in 44 languages, from many different regions of the World (Africa, the Balkans, the Caucasus, Oceania, Asia…).
- LLACAN (Langage, Langues et Cultures d’Afrique Noire) – CNRS
LLACAN is an organization of CNRS associated with INALCO. Its teacher- researchers work on the study and description of the languages of sub-Saharan Africa. On their website can be found descriptions of many African languages (number of speakers, areas covered, structure of language, classification…) from a large number of countries.
- INALCO
INALCO, l’Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales (the National Institute of Oriental Languages and Civilizations), is an educational center that describes itself as the active testimony « of the richness and diversity of the peoples of the world. » 93 languages and civilizations, from the five continents, are taught here.
Elsewhere in the world
- Hans Rausing Endangered Languages Project – Great Britain
The Hans Rausing Endangered Languages Project is comprised of three programs:
– The Endangered Languages Academic Program (ELAP) is a teaching program for endangered languages around the world, including their description and documentation.
– The Endangered Languages Documentation Program (ELDP) awards scholarships to PhD students and post-doctoral researchers to work on the description and documentation of languages in the field.
– The Endangered Languages Archive Program (ELAR) collects and archives all documents from the ELDP in a digital database.
To date, the program has funded over 80 documentation projects on five continents. Among the languages studied are Kayardild, a language spoken by only eight people on the Isle of Mornington and the Bentinck Islands in Australia, Watunhua and Daohua spoken in Tibet, and Apurinic spoken in the Brazilian Amazon.
Hans Rausing Endangered Languages Project
- Dobes (Bedrohte Sprachen Dokumentation) Program – Germany
The Volkswagen Foundation funds a variety of innovative research projects in German including the documentation of endangered languages. In this context, the foundation created the Dobes program in 2000 which awards scholarships annually. Projects funded are generally substantial and may combine both linguistic and ethnological material. They may also involve musicologists, biologists etc. The duration of projects may be up to three years and the funding level up to 300 000 euros. All documents from these projects are preserved at the Max Planck Institute in Nijmegen.
- DEL (Documenting Endangered Languages) – United States
In the United States, the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) have joined forces to create Documenting Endangered Languages (DEL), which funds description and documentation projects lasting from one to three years, and up to approximately $ 100 000. The program also provides an opportunity for speakers of endangered languages to learn methods of documentation.
- Foundation for Endangered Languages – Great Britain
The ‘Foundation for Endangered Languages’ awards grants to support specific projects of documentation, protection and promotion of endangered languages, with or by the communities themselves. The Foundation organizes conferences in various regions of the world and publishes a quarterly newsletter, Ogmios.
In recent years, LEF has awarded between 5000 and 8000 dollars per year, divided between 5 to 10 projects.
- Ressource Network for Linguistic Diversity
RNLD aims to advance the sustainability of indigenous languages and to increase the participation of Indigenous peoples in all aspects of language documentation and revitalisation through training, resource sharing, networking, and advocacy.
- Consortium on Training in Language Documentation and Conservation
The Consortium on Training in Language Documentation and Conservation (CTLDC) was established in 2009 as an international response to the crisis confronting the world’s languages. The central aim of the CTLDC is to build a global resource for all those who are actively working to maintain linguistic diversity through fostering collaboration among people who are engaged in training in language documentation and conservation. The CTLDC will provide a critical network to foster communication and collaboration, and enhance the sharing of skills and resources.
Documentation Sources
General Information
- SIL’s website ethnologue.com – USA
The Summer Institute of Linguistics was initiated in the 1930s by two missionaries whose goal was to translate the Bible into as many languages as possible. Over the years, SIL has collected information on thousands of languages. This database is accessible online at www.ethnologue.com.
- Site of University Laval – Quebec
- WALS (The World Atlas of Language Structures Online)
The World Atlas of Language Structures Online is a project of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology and the Max Planck Digital Library. This database provides the location, linguistic affiliation and structural characteristics of a great number of the languages of the world. The Atlas, which was originally distributed as a book with a cd-rom of 141 maps, is now available on the Internet.
- UNESCO Interactive Atlas
As part of its campaign to protect cultural diversity and the non-material heritage of humanity, UNESCO supports various projects to revitalize languages around the world. The organization’s website offers an interactive version of its Atlas on Endangered Languages.
- Linguamón – Casa de les Llengües – Catalonia
Founded in 2005 by the Government of Catalonia, the Linguamón House of Languages works to promote world languages as a medium of communication, culture and dialogue.
A center devoted to the languages of the world is being built in Barcelona and should open its doors in 2011. It will offer an extensive program of exhibitions and activities about multilingual societies. Already, the site of Linguamón provides information and news about linguistic diversity.
Local information
- AILLA – United States
The Archive of Indigenous Languages of Latin America is a project of the departments of anthropology and linguistics at the University of Texas at Austin, funded by the NEH and NSF. The site provides audio recordings (stories, ceremonies, songs …) and publishes literary works (poetry, stories, essays …) on and in indigenous languages of Latin America. Nearly thirty languages are represented in these archives. The site provides information on various languages of Meso and South America and offers a page of additional links.
- Native Languages of the Americas – United States
Native Languages of the Americas is an organization dedicated to the preservation and revitalization of indigenous languages of America via the Internet. The site presents 25 to 30 families of Indian languages and lists related languages. It also provides links to other information sites.
Native Languages of the Americas
- African Languages – Africa
African Languages is a source of online information on African languages. The site presents the different families of languages of the continent, and for each family provides a bibliography and links to other websites.
- Oralidad Modernidad – Ecuador
Oralidad Modernidad is a multidisciplinary project aiming to assess the state of indigenous languages in Ecuador through the collection of sociolinguistic interviews, accounts, open discussions and the development of community activities that help create spaces for multicultural exchange.
Oralidad Modernidad (ES)
Other
- Endangered Language Fund – United States
The NGO Endangered Language Fund provides grants for cultural revitalization for Aboriginal peoples. Over the past ten years the fund has helped finance 97 projects in thirty countries. Among them include the creation of indigenous radio programs in South Dakota, the recording of the last living historian of the Shor language of West Siberia, and the creation of teaching materials for endangered languages.
