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I wonder if there are any other efforts currently to record indigenous languages that are at risk - there must be some organizations willing to help arrest the

I wonder if there are any other efforts currently to record indigenous languages that are at risk - there must be some organizations willing to help arrest the rate at which these languages are failing/disappearing into the void - anyone know of any official/unofficial organized/unorganized projects like this? Its very interesting to think that we have the technology to save these languages, yet its not being applied - or is it?

protomyth 9y ago
Many efforts including most tribes doing it themselves. I do believe Steven Spielberg also had a project going. It is generally presented as language preservation.
evincarofautumn 9y ago
I’ve read about specific instances, but in general it’s hard to get funding to arrange for linguists with the desire & expertise to go to the (often remote) places where such languages are spoken, for long enough to record them thoroughly enough to be useful. Gaining the trust & desire of the people, making recordings, figuring out phonology & grammar (which native speakers may not be consciously aware of), compiling dictionaries, sometimes inventing writing systems…it can be a big undertaking for each language. And a lot of people aren’t even convinced that language death is a problem.
jamessb 9y ago
There's the Endangered Language Fund [0] and Foundation for Endangered Languages [1]. [0]: http://www.endangeredlanguagefund.org/ http://www.endangeredlanguagefund.org/ [1]: http://www.ogmios.org/index.php http://www.ogmios.org/index.php
alaxsxaq 9y ago
This is one project: https://livingtongues.org/ https://livingtongues.org/
indubitably 9y ago
There are whole subfields of language documentation, language revitalization, language reclamation, etc. There are conferences (ICLDC, Breath of Life, Language is Life just to mention three), journals (http://nflrc.hawaii.edu/ldc/ http://nflrc.hawaii.edu/ldc/), funding organizations, archives, PhD programs around the world… So, yes, there are efforts.

protomyth 9y ago

Many efforts including most tribes doing it themselves. I do believe Steven Spielberg also had a project going. It is generally presented as language preservation.

evincarofautumn 9y ago

I’ve read about specific instances, but in general it’s hard to get funding to arrange for linguists with the desire & expertise to go to the (often remote) places where such languages are spoken, for long enough to record them thoroughly enough to be useful. Gaining the trust & desire of the people, making recordings, figuring out phonology & grammar (which native speakers may not be consciously aware of), compiling dictionaries, sometimes inventing writing systems…it can be a big undertaking for each language. And a lot of people aren’t even convinced that language death is a problem.

jamessb 9y ago

There's the Endangered Language Fund [0] and Foundation for Endangered Languages [1]. [0]: http://www.endangeredlanguagefund.org/ http://www.endangeredlanguagefund.org/ [1]: http://www.ogmios.org/index.php http://www.ogmios.org/index.php

alaxsxaq 9y ago

This is one project: https://livingtongues.org/ https://livingtongues.org/

indubitably 9y ago

There are whole subfields of language documentation, language revitalization, language reclamation, etc. There are conferences (ICLDC, Breath of Life, Language is Life just to mention three), journals (http://nflrc.hawaii.edu/ldc/ http://nflrc.hawaii.edu/ldc/), funding organizations, archives, PhD programs around the world… So, yes, there are efforts.