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August 9, 2011: NSF and NEH announce grant awards
The two great American research-funding institutions, the National Science Foundation (NSF, supporting fundamental research and education in all scientific fields) and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH, centered on the fields of research, education and preservation in Social Science), have recently released the listing of the projects awarded research grants in the field of endangered languages.
For the seventh round of this funding campaign, a total budget of $3,9 million has been shared over a large variety of projects: digital documentation of almost 50 endangered languages (either ex nihilo or based on existing data), enhancement of computational infrastructure on the field, training for researchers, etc.
The grants awarded to individuals working on endangered languages reach up to $50,400. Projects led by academic teams will receive grants ranging from $14,389 to $407,593.
Most of the languages involved are located in the Americas, and some in the Asia-Pacific area. The listing does not include projects specifically related to Africa, however.
Among the awarded projects, the documentation of critically endangered languages appears as a continual concern, like the Karuk and Yurok languages, for example, which no longer count over a handful of elderly speakers in northern California, the Itelmen language spoken by around twenty people in Kamchatka, northern Russia, or Bitterroot Salish, used by around thirty elders in Montana.
Projects also include more specific research elements: one of them aims to explore how the concept of space is represented in 25 different languages over 5 continents.
Standing out, the huge ELCat (Collaborative Research Endangered Languages Catalogue) worldwide language referencing project, led by three well-known researchers: Helen and Anthony Aristar-Dry, of Eastern Michigan University, and Lyle Campbell, of the University of Hawaii. Generously awarded ($407,593 altogether), this ambitious project running over three years should bring some light on the actual number of languages spoken on the planet, their location, main features, etc. We can’t wait for the outcome, and wish all the best to all contributors!
More details here.