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Endangered Languages Projects

Documenting Kurtoep in a Historical Perspective: a Grammar, Dictionary and Texts: Gwendolyn Lowes, University of Oregon. 2007-2009.
This discourse-based descriptive and historical grammar of the endangered Kurtoep language will provide one of the first descriptions of language in Bhutan. The proposed research will be conducted in ... more
A comprehensive comparative grammar of the Turung and Singpho languages of Assam: Stephen Morey, La Trobe University . 2005-2007.
This project will document two related languages of the Jinghpaw group within Tibeto-Burman: Turung, with perhaps 1000 speakers and Singpho, with perhaps 2500 speakers. Both languages are under ... more
A Conversational Database of the Arapaho Language in Video Format: Andrew Cowell, The University of Colorado. 2008-2010.
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A Description and Documentation of Avatime: Saskia Van Putten, Leiden University. 2008-2008.
The purpose of this project is to describe and document Avatime. Avatime is an underdescribed and undocumented language spoken in the Volta region of Ghana. The language is threatened by the regional ... more
A descriptive grammar of two Magar dialects: Tanahu and Syangja Magar: Karen Grunow-Harsta, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. 2006-2007.
The project will result in a comprehensive grammar, dictionary and transcribed texts from two dialects of Magar: Syangja and Tanahu. Magar is an endangered Tibeto-Burman language of Nepal. It is a ... more
A dictionary of Eastern Penan: Peter Sercombe, Northumbria University. 2003-2004.
Eastern Penan is a Western Austronesian language, exclusive to Sarawak in east Malaysia and neighbouring Brunei, in northeast Borneo. It is an endangered language with considerably less than 10,000 ... more
A documentation of North Ambrym, a language of Vanuatu and research into its possessive structures: Mike Franjieh, SOAS. 2009-2012.
North Ambrym is an undocumented language spoken on Ambrym Island, Vanuatu. There are approximately 3000 speakers located along the coastal and inland areas of Northern Ambrym. The documentation aims ... more
A first appraisal of Bainouk and its main contact language Mandinka: Friederike Luepke , SOAS. 2008-2008.
The project consists of a sociolinguistic survey of the highly endangered Atlantic language Bainouk, and a first step towards its documentation, taking into account the main contact language ... more
A first Kayardild audiovisual text corpus, with prosodic annotations: Louis Goldstein, Yale University . 2005-2005.
Kayardild has eight remaining fluent speakers, all elderly, on Mornington and Bentinck Islands, Australia. The language is described in a grammar, a dictionary, and an initial intonational phonology, ... more
A pan-dialectal documentation of Wik-Ngathan and Wik-Ngatharr: Cape York Peninsula, Australia: Louise Ashmore, SOAS. 2010-2011.
Wik-Ngathan and Wik-Ngatharr/Wik-Alken are Paman language varieties spoken on the west coast of Cape York Peninsula (CYP), Australia. Speaker numbers (approx. 100) have significantly declined as ... more
A Pan-dialectal documentation of Wik-Ngatharr, Cape York Peninsula: Louise Ashmore, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. 2007-2009.
The aim of the project is to document Wik-Ngatharr (also called Wik-Ngatharra, Wik-Alkanha or Wik-Elken), an endangered Paman language variety spoken in Cape York Peninsula, Australia. ... more
A reference grammar of Choguita Raramuri (Tarahumara): Gabriela Caballero , The Research Foundation, Stony Brook University. 2008-2010.
The project seeks to describe and document Choguita Raramuri (Tarahumara), an endangered, underdescribed Uto-Aztecan language of the Taracahitan branch spoken in the northwest of Mexico. The ... more
A text documentation of N|uu: Tom Güldemann, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany. 2007-2010.
The project aims at a fuller text documentation of N|uu, the last South African San language and the only surviving member of the !Ui branch of the isolate family Tuu. The language is highly ... more
Aleut Conversation Corpus: Alice Taff, The University of Washington. 2003-2005.
The Aleut language, indigenous to the Aleutian and Pribilof Islands, Alaska, USA, is a branch of the Eskimo-Aleut language family. To preserve the manner and content of Aleut discourse, this project ... more
An Arapaho analytical dictionary and concordance: Lisa Conathan, University of California at Berkeley. 2004-2006.
Documentation and production of an analytical and cultural dictionary which include, in addition to English-Arapaho and Arapaho-English glosses, morphological analysis, etymology (including ... more
An Integrated Approach to Teotepec Chatino Language Documentation through History and Culture: Justin McIntosh, University of Texas at Austin. 2010-2012.
This project will produce an integrated corpus of transcribed and analyzed texts from Teotepec Chatino, a highly endangered Otomanguean language of Oaxaca, Mexico. A strong emphasis on speaker ... more
Arandic Songs project: Myfany Turpin, University of Queensland. 2006-2008.
This project will record and document ceremonial performances from the northern Arandic group of languages of Central Australia as a resource for maintaining traditions and for appropriate research. ... more
Barupu grammar and lexicography: Miriam Corris, University of Sydney. 2003-2005.
Ms Corris aims to complete her doctoral dissertation; a descriptive grammar of Barupu, including glossed texts and a word list. Barupu is a previously undescribed non-Austronesian language, spoken by ... more
Ceq Wong and Mah Meri: the documentation of two Aslian languages of the Malay Peninsula: Nicole Kruspe, University of Melbourne. 2005-2007.
Documentation of Ceq Wong, producing a comprehensive grammatical description, trilingual dictionary and text collection. Documentation of Mah Meri will produce a shorter grammar, text collection and ... more
Ceremonial song-poetry of the Arandic region in Central Australia: Dr Myfany Turpin, Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University. 2010-2010.
Awelye is a genre of women’s songs of Central Australia. The genre is highly endangered and the ceremonies struggle to find a place in contemporary society. In the past people learnt through frequent ... more
Cha'palaa Documentation Project: Connie Dickinson, Universidad San Francisco de Quito. 2006-2006.
The project will document the culture and language of the Chachi, an indigenous group living in northwestern Ecuador. Videos from a wide range of contexts and genres will be transcribed, translated, ... more
Choguita Raramuri (Tarahumara) documenation and description: Gabriela Caballero Hernandez, University of California, Berkeley. 2006-2008.
Choguita Raramuri (Tarahumara) is an underdescribed,endangered Uto-Aztecan language spoken in Northern Mexico. In cooperation with community members, this project will produce documentation in the ... more
Classical song traditions of contemporary Western Arnhem Land in their multilingual context: Linda Barwick, University of Sydney. 2006-2009.
The classical song traditions of Western Arnhem Land are amongst the foremost examples of verbal art in the nine endangered languages of the region, but few people are now competent to perform or ... more
Comparative Documentation of the Myene language cluster: Dr Mark Van de Velde, Llacan (UMR 8135 of the CNRS). 2010-2013.
The comparative documentation of the Myene language cluster will result in a large and diverse set of recorded and transcribed communicative events, a lexicological database and a dialectological ... more
Corpus and Lexicon development: Endangered genres of discourse in Tu'un isavi (Mixtec) of Yoloxochitl, Guerrero: Jonathan D Amith, Gettysburg College. 2008-2009.
This project focuses on endangered discourse genres and threatened domains of cultural knowledge in Yoloxochitl Mixtec to create the first extensive, archival quality corpus of recorded and expertly ... more
Corpus and lexicon development:: Endangered genres of discourse and domains of cultural knowledge in Tu'un isavi (Mixtec) of Yoloxchitl, Guerrero: Dr Jonathan Amith, Gettysburg College. 2010-2013.
This project focuses on endangered genres of discourse and threatened domains of cultural knowledge in Yoloxóchitl (16º 48' 58''N, 98º 41' 12''W) Mixtec (xty), spoken in four villages within a 12 km ... more
Corpus of grammar and discourse strategies of deaf native users of Auslan (Australian Sign Language): Trevor Johnston, Macquarie University . 2004-2007.
Auslan (Australian Sign Language) is the native signed language of the deaf community in Australia. It has evolved from forms of British Sign Language, which were brought to Australia in the 19th ... more
Cross-Varietal Documentation and Descriptive Study of Tamang: Tom Owen-Smith, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS). 2010-2013.
Tamang (ISO-639: taj) is a Tibeto-Burman language spoken over a large but sparsely populated area in Central and Eastern Nepal (27°5’N, 85-86°E), and exhibiting considerable geographical variation ... more
Dalabon Oral Histories Project: Sarah Cutfield, Monash University. 2006-2008.
Dalabon is a severely endangered Australian Aboriginal language of a diaspora population which lives in southern and western Arnhem Land, Australia. As a result of the grantee's contact with this ... more
Description and documentation of Ashéninka Perené (Arawak): Elena Mihas, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. 2015-2014.
The objective of this doctoral dissertation project is to complement the results of initial description and documentation and carry out later stages of documentation as part of the long-term program ... more
Description and Documentation of Ayutla Mixe: Rodrigo Romero Mendez, University at Buffalo . 2005-2005.
This project seeks to collect data for the description and documentation of Ayutla Mixe. This language is spoken in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca, and belongs to the Mixean branch of the ... more
Description of Apurinã (Arawak): Sidney Facundes, Universidade Federale do Pará. 2003-2005.
The purpose of the project is to accomplish detailed description and documentation of the Apurinã language (Arawak family). This highly endangered language is spoken in the Amazon region of ... more
Dictionary of Archi (Daghestanian) with sound files and cultural materials: Greville Corbett, University of Surrey. 2004-2007.
Our purpose is to create a dictionary of Archi, a highly endangered language spoken in one village of a remote mountain region in Daghestan. Archi is remarkable both for linguistic reasons, and in ... more
Digital Archiving Yami Language Documentation: Der-Hwa Victoria Rau, Providence University, Taiwan . 2005-2007.
The goal of this project is to prepare digital archive materials, with a team from Providence University in Taiwan, to document the Yami language and facilitate preservation and dissemination of the ... more
Digital Documentation of Jul'hoan Language and Culture: Field research for Audio, Video and Text Archives: Megan Biesele, University of Texas at Austin. 2008-2009.
This project in digital documentation of Jul'hoan San language and culture is the culmination of 37 years of audio/video recording and language activism by anthropologist Megan Biesele, Jul'hoan ... more
Discovering Mafea: texts, grammar, and lexicon: Valérie Guérin, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. (UHM) . 2005-2007.
This project proposes to record and describe Mafea, an Austronesian language spoken by about 200 people on Mafea island, northern Vanuatu. To date, the only publication about the language is a ... more
Documentation and analysis of Haisla and Henaaksiala (North Wakashan) of Kitamaat Village, British Columbia: Emmon Bach, SOAS. 2004-2006.
The primary purpose of the project is to gather and analyze new materials on Haisla and Henaaksiala, Northern Wakashan language varieties (dialects) of Kitamaat Village, British Columbia. The project ... more
Documentation and Analysis of Kabardian as Spoken in Turkey: Ayla Applebaum, University of California, Santa Barbara. 2008-2011.
Kabardian is a typologically rare and threatened Northwest Caucasian language. Preliminary research by the author established phonetic differences between Kabardian spoken in Russia and Turkey, and ... more
Documentation and Comparative Study of two Endangered Languages in Tibet: Wutunhua, Daohua: Yeshes Vodgsal Acuo, University of Nankai. 2004-2006.
Daohua and Wutunhua are isolated linguistic islands within the vast Tibetan-speaking area. Daohua is spoken by approximately 2,600 people in eastern Tibet, and Wutunhua is spoken by about 2000 people ... more
Documentation and description of Bierebo, a Southern Oceanic language of Vanuatu: Peter Budd, School of Oriental & African Studies . 2005-2007.
Bierebo is an undescribed Oceanic language spoken on the island of Epi in Vanuatu. There are an estimated 800 speakers who live in several villages mainly on the west coast. Working in conjunction ... more
Documentation and Description of Cappadocian (Asia Minor Greek): Mark Janse, University of Patras. 2007-2007.
Cappadocian (also known as Asia Minor Greek) is a Greek-Turkish mixed language thought to have died in the 1960s until its rediscovery in 2005. According to our present knowledge, there are an ... more
Documentation and description of Dulong: Ross Perlin, SOAS. 2008-2010.
Dulong is a Tibeto-Burman language variety spoken in Gongshan Nu and Dulong Autonomous County, Yunnan Province, China, in villages alongside the Nu and Dulong rivers. With under 10,000 speakers, the ... more
Documentation and description of Ikaan, a language in Southern Nigeria: Sophie Salffner, SOAS. 2007-2008.
The project aims to produce a collection of annotated audio recordings of Ikaan, a Benue-Congo language spoken in Southern Nigeria. Ikaan is only sparsely described but a documentation and more ... more
Documentation and description of Karo, Brazil: Nilson Gabas Jr. , Museu Paraense Emilio Goeldi. 2004-2006.
The aim of this project is to document and continue the description of Karo, a Tupian language spoken by approximately 130 Arara Indians in the Amazon region of Brazil. Although Karo is still ... more
Documentation and Description of Malto: Chaithra Puttaswamy, School of Oriental and African Studies. 2005-2006.
The aim of this project is to document and describe Malto. Malto is spoken around the Rajmahal hills in Eastern India. The low literacy rate and absence of written documents often confines the ... more
Documentation and Description of Numèè, an endangered language of Southernmost New Caledonia: Sophie Rendina, SOAS. 2007-2009.
Numèè is a poorly described language of Southernmost New Caledonia, whose speakers (1814 in 1996) are shifting to French and Tayo (Creole). Working with the community, the cultural centre and the ... more
Documentation and Description of Sia Pedee, Ecuador: Jorge Gomez Rendon, University of Amsterdam. 2007-2007.
The aim of the project is to continue the documentation of the Sia Pedee language (Embera, Choco) as part of a long-term revitalization process. The main goals include: (1) time-aligned annotation of ... more
Documentation and Description of the Nahavaq Language: Laura Dimock, Victoria University of Wellington. 2007-2008.
The aim of this project is to document and describe the Nahavaq language of Malakula, Vanuatu (approximately 600 speakers, no first-language literacy). The goals are to collect 20 hours of recorded ... more
Documentation and Description of the South Eastern Huastec, a Mayan Language from Veracruz, Mexico: Ana Kondic, University of Sydney. 2007-2008.
This project aims to provide a comprehensive documentation of the Southeastern Huastec (HSF) Language by creating a detailed grammatical description, a trilingual Huastec-Spanish-English word list ... more
Documentation and Description of the Yanomama of Papiu, an Endagered Yanomami language of Brazil: Helder Perri Ferreira, CNRS - CELIA. 2010-2010.
The project aims to continue the documentation and support of the Yanomama of Papiu, Brazil. The main goals are: (1) to record, transcribe and translate 20 hours of audio and/or visual material of a ... more
Documentation and description of Ukaan, a language of Southern Nigeria: Sophie Salffner, SOAS. 2006-2007.
The project aims to produce a collection of audio and video recordings of Ukaan, a Benue-Congo language spoken in Southern Nigeria, which is yet undocumented and only sparsely described. All ... more
Documentation and Description of Wanyjirra, a language of Northern Australia: Chikako Senge, The Australian National University. 2009-2013.
Wanyjirra (ISO 639:gue) is a little-known and endangered Pama-Nyungan language spoken in the Northern Australia. At least two fluent speakers currently live in Halls Creek, Western Australia (located ... more
Documentation and grammatical description of Chechen including the Cheberloi dialect: Zarina Molochieva, University of Leipzig. 2007-2008.
The goal of this project is twofold: (a) to complete a reference grammar of Chechen (of which 20% is already drafted), which will be submitted as a PhD dissertation at the University of Leipzig; (b) ... more
Documentation of Ayere, an endangered and undocumented minority language of the Nigerian Middle Belt: Anja Moemeke-Choon, SOAS. 2007-2009.
The purpose of this project is a documentation and description of Ayere, a minority language in Nigeria, which is highly threatened by Yoruba and mainly undocumented and undescribed. Work already ... more
Documentation of 3-4 Endangered Non-Austronesian Languages of Alor and Pantar, Eastern Indonesia: Louise Baird , Leiden University. 2004-2004.
All of the languages in this project are previously undescribed non-Austronesian languages spoken in the Alor archipelago in south-eastern Indonesia. Klon is spoken by approximately 5,000-6,000 ... more
Documentation of a Dialect of Mongghul and a Dialectological Survey of Mongghul: Burgel Faehndrich, University of Hawaii at Manoa. 2006-2007.
The goal of this project is to produce a sketch grammar of one variety of Mongghul, including a description of phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax and a wordlist. Information on language contact ... more
Documentation of A'inage (Cofan): Rafael Fischer, University of Amsterdam. 2008-2009.
The main aim of this project is to compile a dictionary of A’ingae and to produce language materials pertaining to various types of media. These include audio and video recordings, a collection of ... more
Documentation of Baba'1, a Bantu language from the Grassfields of Cameroon: Anne Vilain, University Stendhal/Institut de la Communication Parlee, Grenoble, France. 2006-2006.
Baba'1 is a non-written language spoken by a community of people in the village of Baba'1, in the Ndop plain, North West province of Cameroon. Work has started on the phonetics and phonology of the ... more
Documentation of Bedik: Adjaratou Sall, Institut Dondamental d'Afrique Noire (IFAN) Dakar University. 2008-2010.
The Bedik are an ethnic minority comprising about 3500 inhabitants living in villages on the mountains of eastern Senegal. Bedik is classified as a member of the Mande branch within the Niger-Congo ... more
Documentation of Betta Kurumba: Gail Coelho, School of Oriental & African Studies . 2005-2006.
Betta Kurumba is an endangered Dravidian language spoken in the Nilgiri-Wynaad region of southern India. The Betta Kurumbas (pop. 2-6,000) lived for centuries in relative isolation as a ... more
Documentation of Blablanga, Santa Isabel, Solomon Islands: Radu Voica, SOAS. 2007-2010.
Blablanga is an endangered and undescribed Oceanic language with about 1800 speakers on Santa Isabel, in the Solomon Islands. This project aims to create a transcribed, translated and annotated ... more
Documentation of Central Tseltal: creation of a broad corpus for multiple uses: Gilles Polian, CIESAS-SURESTE. 2006-2006.
This project proposes documentation of Central Tseltal (a Mayan language spoken in Chiapas, Mexico), a language that has been the focus of a previous linguitic research but without any available ... more
Documentation of Chatino, an Otomanguean language group of Oaxaca, Mexico: Anthony Woodbury, University of Texas at Austin. 2007-2010.
Chatino is a group of closely related language varieties belonging to the Zapotecan branch of the Otomanguean language family. It is spoken by most of the 29,000 Chatinos of Oaxaca, Mexico’s, Sierra ... more
Documentation of Chuxnaban Mixe: Texts, Dictionary and Grammar: Carmen Jany, California State University, San Bernardino. 2008-2009.
The project aims at documenting and describing Chuxnaban Mixe, a previously undocumented Mixe language spoken by 900 people in one village in Oaxaca. Bilingualism with Spanish is on the rise, as ... more
Documentation of complex sentence structures of Tojol Ab’al (Mayan) in a typological, comparative perspective.: Marc Peake, Laboratoire CNRS “Dynamique Du Langage”. 2010-2011.
This two year project involves the documentation of complex syntax in Tojol Ab’al (TOJ), an endangered Mayan language of southern Mexico (Google Map Link) with approximately 35,000 speakers. A ... more
Documentation of Desano - Eastern Tukanoan: Wilson Silva, University of Utah. 2008-2009.
The goal of this project is to undertake fieldwork to document Desano, an endangered Eastern Tukanoan language. Desano is spoken in both Brazil and Colombia; this project, for various practical ... more
Documentation of Effutu: Nana Agyeman, SOAS. 2010-2013.
This project seeks to document one of the three dialects of Effutu, (ISO-639: afu, estimated population: 20-30 thousand), which is spoken in Winneba, a coastal town in the Central Region of Ghana, ... more
Documentation of endangered Tungusic languages of Khabarovskij Kraj: Elena Kalinina, Lomonossov Moscow State University. 2004-2005.
Recording extensive text data and providing comprehensive grammar descriptions and dictionaries for unified documentation of the four ... more
Documentation of endangered Tungusic languages of Khabarovskij Kraj: Elena Kalinina, Moscow State University. 2007-2009.
The project aims at the fullest possible documentation of three Tungusic languages: Negidal, Kur-Urmi and Ulcha. The main objectives of the project are: a) recording an extensive text corpus in ... more
Documentation of Enets: digitization and analysis of legacy field materials and fieldwork with last speakers: Bernard Comrie, Max Planck Institute. 2007-2010.
The project will document Enets, an almost extinct Northern Samoyedic language spoken on the Taimyr Peninsula, Siberia (about 30 speakers, all over 45). It will be devoted both to digitizing of ... more
Documentation of five Paman languages of Cape York Peninsula, Australia: Jean-Christophe Verstraete, University of Leuven. 2006-2009.
The aim of the project is to document five highly endangered Paman languages of Cape York Peninsula (Australia): Kugu Muminh, Kuku Thaypan, Umbuygamu, Umpila and Wik Ngathan. The project is a team ... more
Documentation of formal and ceremonial discourses in K’ichee’: Telma Can Pixabaj, University of Texas at Austin. 2010-2013.
This project will document formal and ceremonial discourses in natural contexts in three K’ichee’ (quc) communities: Santa Catarina Ixtahuacán, Nahualá, and Santa Lucía Utatlán, Sololá (14° 46´26´´ ... more
Documentation of four moribund Moluccan languages: Margaret Florey, Monash University. 2003-2005.
This project will provide rich descriptions of four languages from the eastern Indonesian province of Central Maluku — a region with both high linguistic diversity and the highest level of language ... more
Documentation of four varieties of Baima: Katia Chirkova, International Institute for Asian Studies. 2007-2009.
The project aims at the fullest posssible audio, video and text documentation of all four varieties of Baima, an endangered Tibeto-Burman language spoken in the South West of China, in the ... more
Documentation of Gaviao and Surui Languages in whistled and instrumental speech: Julien Meyer, Fundacao Instituto para o Desenvolvimento da Amazonia. 2008-2010.
The project is to undertake the linguistic documentation and analysis of highly endangered traditional speech practices in two endangered Tupian languages of Brazilian Amazon: Gaviao and Surui. ... more
Documentation of Glavda in rural and urban contexts: Jonathan Owens, University of Bayreuth. 2009-2010.
This project documents Glavda, a small, largely unstudied Central Chadic language of considerable phonological, morphological and syntactic complexity spoken in Northeastern Nigeria. Beyond ... more
Documentation of Goemai: Birgit Hellwig, SOAS, University of London. 2003-2005.
This project documents the Goemai language (a West Chadic language spoken in Central Nigeria) in the form of a reference grammar, a dictionary and an annotated text corpus. The grammatical analysis ... more
Documentation of Inati, an Endangered Negrito Language of the Central Philippines: Jason Lobel, University of Hawai'i. 2009-2009.
This project aims to create archive-quality audio and video recordings of Inati, an endangered Negrito language on Panay Island in the Philippines. Speakers are bilingual in neighbouring lowland ... more
Documentation of Kanamari Language and culture: Stefan Dienst, Johann Wolfgang Goethe University. 2010-2012.
Kanamari (knm) is a language of the Katukinan family spoken by 2,000 people in Brazil’s Amazon region (7°3'30"S 69°41'30"W). This documentation will include audio and video recordings, especially of ... more
Documentation of Moor, an Austronesian language of Cenderawasih Bay, Indonesia: David Kamholz, University of California, Berkeley. 2010-2013.
Moor (ISO-639 mhz) is a virtually undescribed Austronesian language spoken by about 1000 people in southeast Cenderawasih Bay. It is under heavy influence from Indonesian and the youngest ... more
Documentation of mythology and shamanic songs of the Nahua, Panoan speaking of Peruvian Amazon: Conrad Feather, University of St. Andrews. 2008-2010.
I will work with Nahua language assistants to complete the transcription of over 130 hours of myths, shamanic healing songs, laments and love songs. The result will be the first ever substantial ... more
Documentation of Nalu, Tristão islands, Guinea (Atlantic, Niger-Congo): Frank Seidel, University of Florida. 2010-2012.
Nalu (ISO 639-3: naj) is an endangered Atlantic language spoken on the littorals of Guinea and Guinea-Bissau. In Guinea, most Nalu speakers live north of the river Nuñez on the Tristão islands, ... more
Documentation of Ongota: Graziano Sava, Universita degli Studi di Napoli "l'Orientale". 2008-2010.
Ongota is the traditional language of a hunter-gatherer community in Ethiopia. It is being abandoned in favour of neighbouring Ts’amakko (Cushitic) and is only spoken by Ongota elders. The language ... more
Documentation of oral texts (life histories, folk tales, local historical lore), poems, idioms and riddles of Torwali: Inam Ullah, University of Management and Technology . 2010-2011.
The aim of this project is to collect and document oral texts, such as life histories, folktales, local historical lore, poems, idioms and riddes of Torwali (ISO-639-3 Code trw), an endangered ... more
Documentation of Ratahan, an endangered Austronesian language of North Sulawesi: Anthony Jukes, School of Oriental & African Studies . 2005-2007.
Toratán (Ratahan) is spoken by the older generation in a handful of villages located in southern Minahasa, North Sulawesi, Indonesia. It is an isolated member of the Sangiric language family, ... more
Documentation of Reyesano, an almost extinct language of Bolivia (South America): Antoine Guillaume, Institut des Sciences de l'Homme. 2004-2006.
The project is to undertake linguistic documentation of Reyesano, the most endangered and least known language of the Takana family from the Amazonian rainforests of northern Bolivia and eastern ... more
Documentation of San Jerónimo Acazulco Otomi, Ocoyoacac, Mexico: Nestor Hernandez-Green, Universidad Autónoma de Querétaro. 2009-2010.
This project aims to document the Otomi linguistic variant spoken in San Jerónimo Acazulco, Ocoyoacac, Mexico, including tales, instructions, rituals, and routine descriptions. This Otomi language ... more
Documentation of Santa Ana Hueytlalpan Otomi, Tulancingo, Mexico: Maria de Jesus Selene Hernandez Gomez, Universidad Autónoma de Querétaro. 2010-2010.
This pilot project aims to document the Otomi language spoken in the community of Santa Ana Hueytlalpan, (Tulancingo, Hidalgo, Mexico). This is a language belonging to the Otomi linguistic family of ... more
Documentation of Seke (Ske) - an undescribed and endangered language of Pentecost Island, Vanuatu: Kay Johnson, SOAS. 2007-2009.
Seke is an undescribed, Austronesian language of Pentecost Island, Vanuatu. It is spoken by approximately 600 people in an area surrounded by speakers of the dominant local language. The project aims ... more
Documentation of the BOGOŊ (Cala) language: Ulrich Kleinewillinghöfer, Mainz University. 2005-2006.
BogoN is a Gur language spoken by the Chala people in Ghana. The language is poorly documented and severely threatened with extinction. In all but one of the five locations in the Volta Region where ... more
Documentation of the Ese Ejja language of the Amazonian region of Bolivia: Marine Vuillermet, CNRS. 2007-2007.
About 1200 Ese Ejjas live in the Amazonian region of Bolivia and Peru. Though declining fast, language vitality is still high in Portachuelo, their Bolivian nucleus where the documentation will be ... more
Documentation of the language and lifestyle of the Galesh, province of Golestan, Iran: Helen Jahani, Uppsala University. 2008-2009.
The Galesh are herdsmen in the Alborz mountains. Their total number is unknown, but diminishing rapidly due to the modernisation of the Iranian society. This project attempts to find out if the ... more
Documentation of the Mayoruna languages of western Amazonia: A compilation of recordings of oral history narratives and other speech genres: Dr David Fleck, University of Oregon. 2010-2013.
Of the five extant languages in the Mayoruna branch of the Panoan family, only Matses and Matis have been described, but even for these no archived recordings or text databases are available. ... more
Documentation of the Namuyi Language: Chenglong Huang, Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. 2008-2010.
This project is a comprehensive multi-media documentation of Namuyi, an endangered Qiangic language of the Tibeto-Burman family spoken along the lower reaches of the Yalong River in south-western ... more
Documentation of the Neverver language, Malakula, Vanuatu: Julie Barbour, University of Waikato. 2004-2007.
This project will focus on the documentation of the Neverver language of Malakula, spoken by fewer than 1000 people in two inland villages. The intention of this project is to provide a detailed ... more
Documentation of the Ofayé Language: Eduardo Ribeiro, Universidade Federal de Goiás. 2003-2006.
The main purpose of this project is to document the Ofayé language (Macro-Jê stock), spoken by approximately fifteen individuals in Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil. Ofayé is an extremely endangered ... more
Documentation of the Paresi-Haliti Language (Arawak): Glauber Romling Da Silva, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ). 2009-2011.
The project will document the Paresi-Haliti language (Arawak), variant of Formoso River, spoken in Southern Brazilian Amazonia. This language shows clear signs of endangerment, especially in the ... more
Documentation of the Qatareu language, Lakona Bay, Gaua Island, Vanuatu: Hans Schmidt, University of Hamburg. 2004-2006.
Lakona Bay lies in a remote part of Gaua island in North Vanuatu. Its 300 inhabitants live along the coast and still speak the languages (or dialects) of their original hamlets in the interior. The ... more
Documentation of the Saru dialect of Ainu: Anna Bugaeva, Chiba University. 2007-2009.
I propose to undertake a two-year documentation of the Saru dialect of Ainu which is nearly extinct at present, as only a couple of persons aged 80-90 on the South of Hokkaido Island in Northern ... more
Documentation of the Southern Tujia Language of China: Shixuan Xu, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. 2004-2007.
This project will investigate and document one of the endangered languages of China: Southern Tujia. This language is spoken in the mountainous area of central south China, and has no literate ... more
Documentation of the Syntax and Specialized Uses of Q'anjob'al (Maya): Eladio Mateo-Toledo , The University of Texas at Austin . 2005-2007.
This project will document the syntax of complex predicates and endangered specialized uses of Q'anjob'al. The syntactic description focuses on complex predicates such as adverbial clauses, ... more
Documentation of the Vurës Language, Vanua Lava, Vanuatu: Catriona Hyslop, La Trobe University. 2004-2006.
This project will focus on the documentation of Vurës, an Austronesian language spoken by approximately 1,000 people on the island of Vanua Lava in northern Vanuatu. Proposed outcomes are ... more
Documentation of the Ye'kwana language in the Caura Basin: Natalia Caceres, CNRS, Universite Lumiere Lyon 2. 2008-2009.
The Ye'kwana are a geographically extended group of about 6,000 people in the Amazonian region on the border between Venezuela and Brasil. Through still vital, the community is already being ... more
Documentation of three dialects of Helong: an endangered language of eastern Indonesia: John Bowden, Australian National University. 2007-2010.
The primary aim of this project is to compile a comprehensive documentation of Helong, an endangered language spoken by a few thousand people in the region of Kupang, in eastern Indonesia. An ... more
Documentation of Traditional Warlpiri Ceremony: Carmel O'Shannessey, Regents of the University of Michigan. 2008-2009.
In response to expressed wishes of community elders, the project will record on video a traditional annual Warlpiri ceremony in Lajamanu community. During the ceremoney the men sing and the women ... more
Documentation of two Eastern Tukanoan languages: Wanano and Waikhana (Piratapuyo): Kristine Stenzel, Museu Nacional, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. 2007-2011.
This project will document Wanano and Waikhana (Piratapuyo), two closely related Eastern Tukanoan languages spoken in north-western Amazonia. The project is designed to be both highly ... more
Documentation of Two Gelao Varieties: Zou Lei and A Hou, South West China: Jinfang Li, Central University of Nationalities. 2006-2010.
The project will document Zou Lei and A Hou, two varieties of Gelao,a member of the Tai-Kadai family in South West China. One of the most endangered languages in China, Gelao is now used by only ... more
Documentation of Two Mayan Languages of Guatemala: Uspanteko, Sakapulteko: Nora England, OKMA. 2003-2006.
This project seeks to document two of the most severely threatened Mayan languages for which inadequate documentation exists: Uspanteko and Sakapulteko, both of the K’ichee’ branch. A reference ... more
Documentation of Under-Represented Genres of Passamaquoddy-Maliseet Linguistic Practice: Conor Quinn, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Department of Linguistics and Philosophy. 2006-2008.
This two-year project will document under-represented genres of speech, particularly conversation, in Passamaquoddy-Maliseet, an Eastern Algonquian language with approximately 500 speakers (all forty ... more
Documentation of Urgently Endangered Tupian Languages: Dennis Moore, Museu Paraense Emilio Goeldi/MCT. 2003-2006.
This project aims at the study and documentation of five of the most urgently endangered native languages of Brazil, which have no other possibility for documentation. These languages are: Mondé, ... more
Documentation of Yan-Nhangu, an undescribed language of North-Eastern Arnhem Land, Northern Australia: Claire Bowern, Australian National University. 2004-2006.
Yan-nhangu is spoken by members of a few families at Milingimbi Aboriginal Community in Eastern Arnhem Land, in Australia's Northern Territory. It is the least described language of the area, with ... more
Documentation of Zenzontepec Chatino Language and Culture: Eric Campbell, University of Texas at Austin. 2009-2011.
This project will produce transcribed and analyzed texts from Zenzontepec Chatino (CZN), the most divergent Chatino language (Otomanguean), spoken in the southern Sierra Madre of Oaxaca, Mexico ... more
Documentation of Ös: A Turkic Language of Siberia: Gregory Anderson and David Harrison, Swarthmore College. 2005-2008.
The Siberian Turkic language known to its speakers as Ös (the name they also call themselves and the river which they live along) is known to science as "Middle Chulym." Both the language and its ... more
Documenting and Analysing Ghulfan - An Endangered Sudanese Language: Robert Williams, American University in Cairo. 2008-2011.
This project will document, preserve and provide linguistic analyses for Ghulfan, an endangered and under described dialect of the Kordofan Nubian dialect cluster, primarily spoken in and around the ... more
Documenting Bih, an Austronesian language of Vietnam: Tam Nguyen, University of Oregon. 2008-2010.
Bih is a Chamic language spoken in the Southern highlands of Vietnam, closely related to Ede (also called Rade, Rhade). Bih is spoken by only around 1000 speakers and is nearly undocumented. The ... more
Documenting conversation and the pragmatics of the Kiksht: Nariyo Kono, Portland State University. 2008-2010.
This project will document conversation among several speakers of the highly endangered language: Kiksht. The project team will overcome the enormous challenge of producing a natural-discourse ... more
Documenting endangered Tseltal cultural activities: an Ethnographic and Discursive Audiovisual Corpus: Gilles Polian, CIESAS-SURESTE. 2007-2010.
This project will gather an audiovisual corpus of 300 hours (100 hours transcribed and translated, 50 hours fully annotated) of endangered speech practices (prayers, speeches related to traditional ... more
Documenting Miji, an undocumented Tibeto-Burman language of India: Daniel Wood, University of Oregon. 2010-2012.
Miji (ISO-639-3 code sjl) is an undocumented Tibeto-Burman language with an estimated 4,000 speakers. The communities are primarily located in the East and West Kameng Districts of Arunachal ... more
Documenting Oral Genres in the Bolga Dialect of Gurene (Northern Ghana): Samuel Atintono, University of Manchester. 2010-2011.
The project aims to collect an audio-visual corpus of oral genres in the Bolgatanga dialect of Gurene (ISO 639-3: gur), a Gur language in northern Ghana spoken by about 22,000 people. The ... more
Documenting Pilagá language (Guaycuruan): Bilingual dictionary with grammatical and ethnographic notes: Alejandra Vidal, Universidad Nacional de Formosa . 2005-2006.
This project intends to complete the necessary research for a Pilagá-Spanish bilingual dictionary. Building on Vidal's PhD work, the tasks to be undertaken are recording, text-glossing and the ... more
Documenting Ririo and Papapana: the two most highly endangered Northwest Solomonic languages: Bill Palmer, University of Newcastle Australia. 2010-2013.
... more
Documenting Rongga: I Wayan Arka, Australian National University . 2004-2006.
Rongga is a marginalized small language of south-central Flores, Indonesia This three-year documentation project, based at the Australian National University, aims to set up a comprehensive ... more
Documenting the Bayot language (a west-African language of the Joola group): Mbacké Diagne, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique . 2004-2006.
Bayot is a Niger-Congo, West-Atlantic, Bak language of the Joola sub-group. This language is spoken in a Senegalese South-West zone that covers the prefecture of Nyassia, and mainly comprises three ... more
Documenting the Krim and Bom Languages of Sierre Leone (DKB): Tucker Childs, Portland State University. 2007-2009.
The DKB will document two dying languages spoken in the coastal tidelands of south-eastern Sierra Leone. Only a few score speakers use Krim while even fewer know Bom; all are bilingual in Mende. ... more
Documenting the Mandaean's Rituals: Sabah Aldihisi, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. 2008-2009.
To record transcribe and translate speech and rituals of the Mandaeans with the aim of preserving these for future generations and to enable young members of the Mandaean community to learn the ... more
Documenting the moribund language Mmani, a Southern Atlantic language of Niger-Congo: Tucker Childs, Portland State University. 2004-2006.
This project will produce vital records for the dying language Mmani, once widely spoken in the coastal Samou region of Guinea (Conakry) and Sierra Leone. Many other of the less widely spoken ... more
Endangered Language Situation of the Upper-Lozva Voguls in Ivdel, North-West Siberia, Russia: Gabor Szekely, University of Pécs . 2005-2006.
Vogul (Mansi) language belongs to the Uralic family of languages. The Voguls used to have a dominant role in domesticating horses in the Uralic region in the first millennium BC and in fur hunting in ... more
Enriching the media corpus for Western Pantar (Lamma), a Papuan outlier language of Eastern Indonesia: Gary Holton, University of Alaska Fairbanks. 2008-2008.
This project will enrich primary linguistic data in support of efforts to assemble comprehensive documentation of Western Pantar (Lamma), a Papuan outlier language of Eastern Indonesia. The project ... more
Expanding the Documentation and Description of Hupa (Athabaskan): Amy Campbell, The Regents of the University of California. 2008-2010.
With fewer than five first-language speakers remaining, Hupa (Pacific Coast Athabaskan) is a critically endangered language traditionally spoken in Hoopa Valley in Northern California. Although Hupa ... more
Indigenous language documentation in Guernsey, Channel Islands: Julia Sallabank, SOAS. 2009-2010.
There are probably 2-300 (mainly elderly) fluent speakers of Dgernesiais, the indigenous language of Guernsey, Channel Islands, which is categorized by the 2009 UNESCO Atlas as ‘severely endangered’. ... more
Initial Documentation of Na'ahai, a language of Malakula, Vanuatu: Anastasia Riehl, University of South Pacific. 2008-2009.
Na’ahai is an undescribed language of the southwest coast of Malakula Island in Vanuatu, spoken by less than 1000 people. There are two central aims to this project. One is to undertake initial ... more
Investigation and documentation of the morpho-syntax of Anindilyakwa: Marie Van Egmond, University of Sydney. 2009-2011.
The two aims of this project are: (1) to document the morpho-syntax of Anindilyakwa, spoken by about 1500 people living on Groote Eylandt, Gulf of Carpentaria, Australia; and (2) create a basic ... more
Investigation of an endangered village sign language in India: a pilot study: Sibaji Panda, University of Central Lancashire. 2001-2030.
The pilot study investigates an endangered sign language in a southern Indian village in Karnataka. 250 people in the village are deaf out of a population of 14,000. The sign language used in the ... more
Iquito Language Documentation Project: Nora England, University of Texas, Austin. 2003-2006.
The ILDP continues the documentation of Iquito, a Zaparoan language of the Peruvian Amazon spoken by 25 people. It is partnered with ongoing language revitalisation efforts in the Iquito community of ... more
Jawoyn Cultural Texts, Dictionary and Grammar (southern Arnhem Land): Francesca Merlan, Australian National University. 2003-2005.
The aim is to complete and make available an extensive corpus of material on Jawoyn, a language of southern Arnhem Land. Professor Merlan has prepared a large corpus of materials on Jawoyn, an ... more
Kalmyk/Oirat; Development of teaching materials for Kalmyk national schools; Comparative studies of Kalmyk and Oirat: Elena Indjieva, University of Hawaii . 2005-2006.
Over the last century the linguistic and cultural heritage of Kalmyks (a small nation in Russia) has been rapidly disappearing. The recent socio-linguistic studies indicate that the proportion of ... more
Kari'nja Dictionary and Video Documentation: Raquel Yamada, University of Oregon. 2007-2008.
This project will produce 3 short films documenting the Aretyry dialect of Kari’nja as well as cultural practices. Films will be recorded, edited, transcribed, translated, and subtitled. In ... more
Knowledge of endangered languages in the Sudanese Community, Melbourne Australia: Simon Musgrave, Monash University. 2008-2009.
Large parts of Sudan are currently inaccessible to researchers, in particular the southern region of the country and the Darfur region. In both of these areas, but especially in the south, there are ... more
Kokama-Kokamilla: texts, grammar and lexicon: Rosa Vallejos, University of Oregon. 2006-2007.
Kokama-Kokamilla is a deeply endangered language spoken in the Peruvian Amazon. The need for documentation is urgent as nearly all of the estimated 1500 remaining speakers are elderly people, and ... more
Kubeo Documentation Project: Thiago Chacon, University of Utah. 2010-2011.
Kubeo (cub) is spoken in the multilingual region of the Vaupes and Ayari rivers, upriver from Sao Gabriel, Brazil, and downriver from Mitu, Colombia (lat.0-1, 75N, long.69>71W). The ELDP grant will ... more
Lakota grammar: Regina Pustet, Institute of General and Typological Linguistics . 2005-2006.
The goal of this project is the completion of an almost finished grammar of Lakota (Siouan language family, North America), which will be between 700 and 1000 pages and thus, the most complex ... more
Language and Culture of the Urarina People: Knut Olawsky, La Trobe Univerisity. 2003-2005.
Urarina is a language isolate spoke by less than 3000 people in the Province of Loreto, Peru. Recent contact with oil companies and traders has led to cultural loss and linguistic shift to Spanish in ... more
Langue des Signes Malienne: documentation and description: Victoria Nyst, Leiden University. 2007-2010.
African sign languages are severely under researched. This project aims at documenting the Langue des Signes Malienne (LSM). In the absence of deaf education, LSM has emerged naturally. Once deaf ... more
Linguistic and cultural documentation of the Miahuatec Zapotec of San Bartolome Loxicha: Rosemary Beam de Azcona, University of California. 2008-2010.
This project will document the San Bartolomé Loxicha variety of Miahuatec Zapotec. Digital video recordings will be made with multiple speakers on a variety of subjects and in different contexts (at ... more
Linguistic and Ethnographic documentation of Akuntsú: Carolina Coelho Aragon, University of Utah. 2010-2011.
Akuntsú (a Tupían language) is spoken by only six people, all monolinguals, located near the Omerê River in Rondônia, Brazil (S.12.49’49.0’’ W.61.06’31.4’’). The six are the only survivors of ... more
Linguistic and Ethnographic documentation of Kayardild: Erich Round, Yale University. 2006-2007.
The Kayardild language of the Queensland, Australia is the last of the Tangkic languages to be spoken. The four remaining,elderly speakers are also the last people well versed in many areas of ... more
Linguistic and ethnographic documentation of the Baram language: Kansakar, Tribhuvan university. 2007-2010.
This project aims to document Baram, a seriously endangered language of Nepal, for its preservation and promotion. For this purpose, we will develop a corpus of the various texts of the Baram ... more
Linguistic Documentation of Garuwi: Gerardo Barbera, SOAS. 2007-2009.
The goal of this project is to document Southern Baškardi (Hormozgan, Southeast Iran), focusing on the endangered dialect of Garu. Baškardi has received very little attention in Iranian studies so ... more
Linguistic Documentation of Pingilapese Language: Ryoko Hattori, University of Hawaii at Manoa. 2006-2007.
This project will document Pingilapese, a language spoken by approximately 2,000 speakers mainly in the Federated States of Micronesia. To date there has been very little documentation of ... more
Linguistic Fieldwork in Northern-Ural: A Comprehensive Documentation and Description of Upper-Lozva Mansi Language: Gabor Szekely, University of Pecs. 2007-2008.
The project aims to produce a collection of digital sound and video recordings of Vogul language (they call themselves Mansi) as the result of three field trips to the eastern part of the ... more
Linguistic Fieldwork in Sanduan Province, Papua New Guinea: Matthew Dryer, University at Buffalo. 2003-2006.
This project involves the continuation of field research that has already begun on two languages in Sandaun Province in Papua New Guinea. The primary goals of the project are twofold: to complete a ... more
Lower St'at'imcets Documentation: Kimary Shahin, Simon Fraser University. 2009-2011.
The Lower St'át'imcets Documentation project will document the extremely endangered Lower dialect of St'át'imcets, an Interior Salish language. Lower St'át'imcet has only a handful of fluent ... more
Mawng Dictionary Project: Ruth Singer, University of Melbourne. 2008-2009.
The aim of the field trip is to collect data that will extend the existing Mawng dictionary shoebox database. Some of the data collected will take the form of both texts recorded in order to collect ... more
Multimedia documentation of the endangered Vasyugan and Alexandrovo Khanty dialects of Tomsk region in Siberia: Andrey Filchenko, Tomsk State Pedagogical University. 2007-2008.
Field documentation of language data and meta information of two adjacent and related endangered dialects of Khanty in the Tomsk region of Russia: Vasyugan and Alexandrovo (under 100 speakers). ... more
Nar and Phu (Tibeto-Burman, Nepal): Field Research for an Audio-Visual Archive of Comparative Lexical and Discourse Material: Kristine Hildebrandt, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. 2010-2011.
Nar-Phu (Ethnologue: NPA, ca. 500 speakers, 84°15E; 28°40N) is a Sino-Tibetan language of Nepal which has shown a sharp decline in speakers due to emigration and the influence of national and other ... more
Natural Discourse of the warm Springs Last Speaker of Kiksht: Nariyo Kono , Portland State University. 2007-2007.
This project will document the natural discourse of a highly endangered language: Kiksht; overcoming the enormous challenge of producing this context with only a few speakers. Based on ‘best ... more
Northern (Massett) Haida Toponymy and Geographic Knowledge: Marianne Ignace, Simon Fraser University. 2006-2006.
The Haida language, spoken by the indigenous people of Haida Gwaii, British Columbia, Canada, has only about 30 remaining fluent speakers, almost all in their 70s and 80s. This project will document ... more
Palawan-Tagalog-English Dictionary: Charles Macdonald, CNRS. 2006-2007.
The aim of this project is to prepare a 3000 entries (citation forms) lexicon (vocabulary) of the Palawan language of Palawan Island, Philippines, as a preliminary stage to completing a 5000 to 10000 ... more
Palawan-Tagalog-English Dictionary: Charles Macdonald, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique. 2008-2008.
This is an application for phase two of the Palawan-Tagalog-English Dictionary project-phase one of the same project has already been supported by the ELDP for the year 2006-2007 and has been ... more
Pilot Project for Koegu, a highly endangered language of the Lower Omo Valley, South Western Ethiopia: Moges Yigezu, Addis Ababa University. 2007-2007.
Koegu is a highly endangered language spoken in the rift valley of south-western Ethiopia. The overall aim of this project is to do a survey on the last surviving speakers of Koegu living amongst the ... more
Preservation of Lakota Language: Translation of Songs and Speeches: Jurgita Saltanaviciute, University at Oklahoma . 2005-2006.
The Lakota language is an endangered Native American language still spoken in North and South Dakota, Nebraska, Montana, and Minnesota. At the end of the twentieth century Lakota was spoken by 6,000 ... more
Preservation of the spoken language of Iraqi Jews: Eli Timan, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. 2008-2009.
To record, transcribe and translate speech and customs of the Iraqi Jewish community. After 2,500 years of continued existence in Mesopotamia (Iraq), no Jewish human or culture trace is left there. ... more
Sakun (Sukur) Language Documentation Project: Michael Thomas, University of Colorado, Boulder. 2010-2011.
The Sakun (Sukur) Language Documentation Project will provide a discourse-based corpus of an endangered and undocumented language of the Mandara mountains, Nigeria. Sakun is spoken by approximately ... more
Seeing Voices: Documenting the Gitskan Narrative: Tyler Peterson, University of Bristish Columbia. 2006-2006.
Gitksanimx is the language spoken by the First Nations people who live in northwestern British Columbia, Canada. Gitksan is known to have different speech registers, manifested through a variety of ... more
Shangaji. A Maka or Swahili Language of Mozambique. Grammar, texts and wordlist: Maud Devos , Leiden University. 2004-2006.
The project aims at an extensive documentation of Shangaji, a Bantu language spoken in the Nampula province of Mozambique. Shangaji is an endangered language and hitherto undocumented. This project ... more
Signing in a "deaf family" - documentation of Mardin Sign Language, Turkey: Professor Ulrike Zeshan, University of Central Lancashire. 2010-2012.
Mardin Sign Language exists in a unique setting, a group of ca.40 members of an extended family with a high incidence of hereditary deafness over five generations. "Dilsiz" is the Turkish word for ... more
Sketch grammar, texts and dictionary of Enawene-Nawe (Arawak, Brazil): Ubiray Nogueira de Rezende , Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) . 2005-2007.
This project aims at documenting, as full as possible, the Enawene-Nawe language, which belongs to the Arawak family, the largest group of indigenous language in South America. Enawene-Nawe is the ... more
Summer School on Documentary Linguistics in West Africa: Felix Ameka, Leiden University. 2008-2008.
Documentation Training Event July 16-27 2008 held at University of Education, Winneba, Ghana. Participants are from Cameroon, Burkina Faso, Senegal, Togo, Benin, Sierra Leone, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana ... more
Surel and Sunwar narratives (Nepal). Four books with CDs: Dorte Borchers, Humboldt-Universitat zu Berlin. 2008-2009.
Surel and Sunwar are closely related, threatened Tibeto-Burman languages spoken in different regions of Eastern Nepal. This project will produce books and audio-CDs with Surel and Sunwar texts with ... more
Talyshi documentation and description: Gerardo De Caro, SOAS. 2006-2007.
The project aims to produce a collection of audio and video recordings of Talyshi, a North-western Iranian language spoken on the Caspian coastline between Iran and Azerbaijan. The language is ... more
Talyshi Documentation Project (Completion): Gerardo De Caro, SOAS. 2008-2009.
Completion of the documentation project on Talyshi, a North-Western Iranian language spoken along the Caspian coastline on the border between Iran and Azerbaijan. The project focuses on the dialects ... more
Temporal Reference in Lakandon Maya: Henry Bergqvist, School of Oriental & African Studies . 2005-2006.
Lakandon Maya is an endangered and underdocumented language belonging to the Yukatekan branch of the Mayan language family. The Lakandones have been the subject of many publications devoted to their ... more
The Documentation of Gujjolaay Eegimaa an Atlantic-BAK Joola Language: Serge Sagna, University of Manchester, UK. 2008-2010.
This documentation of Gújjolaay Eegimaa (an Atlantic language of Southern Senegal) aims at providing a representative digital corpus of audio and video data of 30 hours transcribed, annotated ... more
The documentation of Gurindji Kriol, an Australian mixed language: Felicity Meakins, University of Manchester. 2008-2010.
Gurindji Kriol (GK) is an endangered mixed language (ML) spoken in Australia. It fuses Gurindji (Pama-Nyungan), with Kriol (English-lexifier) to create a unique system. GK is an important language to ... more
The documentation of Rama: a very endangered language of Nicaragua: Colette Grinevald, Institut des Sciences de l'Homme (ISH). 2004-2006.
Production of a dictionary, a digitized collection of taped texts, videotaped samples of language use, and a DVD documentary for class use. The main focus will be a trilingual Rama – English – ... more
The Maku’a Pilot Project: Aone van Engelenhoven, Leiden University. 2003-2003.
This project intends to: collect and edit all existing material on Maku’a in Portugal and in East Timor; assess the quantity and quality of remaining speakers in and around Tutuala (East Timor); ... more
The painter's eye, the painter's voice: Language, art and landscape in the Gija world: Eva Schultz-Berndt, University of Manchester, School of Languages, Linguistics and Cultures. 2008-2011.
The goal of the project is to document significant aspects of the encyclopaedic knowledge of the natural and cultural world of the Gija, with a focus on the mythological, historical and ecological ... more
The Pite Saami Documentation Project: Joshua Wilbur, Humboldt-Universitat zu Berlin. 2008-2010.
Pite Saami (also known as Arjeplog Saami) is one of around ten Saami languages (Finno-Ugric). It is spoken in the northern Swedish municipality of Arjeplog and has suffered severely under the ... more
The System of Nominal classification in Gújjólay Eegima: Serge Sagna, School of Oriental and African Studies. 2005-2006.
The goal in undertaking this fieldwork is to complement the data collected in 2004 on the nominal classification system of Gújjólay Eegima, and undocumented Joola language of Senegal. The fieldwork ... more
The Tiefo Language: Grammar sketch, lexicon and collection of texts.: Ibrahima Ouattara, Institut des Sciences de la Societe (INSS). 2008-2009.
The linguistic project aims to document the Tiefo language, a highly endangered language spoken in and around the main village of Daramandougou, Burkina Faso. The last speakers will soon be ... more
Transmission and Continuity of Mexican Sign Language: Claire Ramsey, The Regents of the University of California (San Diego). 2007-2009.
In Mexican Sign Language, transmission among deaf people, especially across generations, is undependable, posing a threat to continuity. Most of the world’s sign languages potentially face this ... more
Tundra Nenets Grammar: Tapani Salminen, Finno-Ugrian Society. 2003-2006.
Tundra Nenets belongs to the Samoyed branch of the Uralic language family. It is spoken by approximately 25,000 people in Arctic Russia and north-western Siberia. The grammar of Tundra Nenets, ... more
Typological aspects of Inuit Sign Language (Canada): Joke Schuit, University of Amsterdam. 2010-2011.
Inuit Sign Language is native to the culture of the Inuit of Nunavut, Canada’s Arctic territory. It is the primary language of about 50 deaf Inuit, and the secondary language of many of their ... more
Typological, comparative and historical study of languages of the Southern Chaco: Veronica Grondona, Eastern Michigan University. 2003-2006.
The main goal of this three year project is documentation of Chorote, Nivaclé and Kadiwéu, three poorly known endangered languages of southern Chaco (South America). Three specific needs guide the ... more
Vanishing Voices of the Great Andamanese: Anvita Abbi, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India. 2004-2007.
Great Andamanese, a highly endangered language of the fifth language family of India, is a mixed language of ten disparate groups of a tribe that once inhabited the entire region of the Andaman ... more
Vedda Language Project: Philip Baker, University of Westminster. 2003-2004.
The Veddas were established in Sri Lanka before the Sinhalese arrived (500 BC). Most have since become absorbed into the Sinhalese population but 200+ Veddas near Dambana have resisted this trend. ... more
Western Acipa documentation and description: Stuart McGill, School of Oriental and African Studies. 2006-2007.
This project aims to produce a collection of audio and video recordings of Western Acipa, a West Kainji language spoken in northwest Nigeria. The language is undescribed apart from a 228-item ... more
Wichi: Documentation, Description and Training: Veronica Grondona, Eastern Michigan University. 2007-2010.
This project proposes documentation of Wichi (northern Argentina,southeastern Bolivia; c.25,000 speakers), focusing on Central Pilcomayo Wichi. The project has extensive community support and a high ... more
Yakima language documentation and grammar: Joana Jansen, University of Oregon . 2005-2006.
Yakima (or Yakama) Sahaptin is a Penutian language spoken in central Washington State, USA. Only a handful of fluent speakers remain, although there is growing interest in teaching and preserving ... more

Endangered Languages Projects

Projects funded by ELDP grants