2019 was a great year for us, filled with fieldwork, breakthroughs and collaborative community connections. The United Nations’ “International Year of Indigenous Languages” (#IYIL2019) was fruitful in that it helped connect many like-minded individuals and organizations and find meaningful ways forward to keep languages alive in years to come.
We held three events around the United States to raise awareness about our work, and we presented at many international conferences including in Australia, Thailand, Japan, and France. See below for some of our highlights. It was quite a year!
With 2020 on the horizon, we are feeling motivated and strong. Our ongoing documentation the Munda language family in India will continue into the new year. These language projects would not be possible without daily collaboration with our research team in India, comprised of trained tribal / indigenous Indian linguists, working closely with local indigenous experts in many communities.
This vertically integrative approach to language documentation, in which local language consultants learn transferable digital and scientific research skills to eventually become research assistants, colleagues, and ambassadors for their languages, is one of the hallmarks of our work in 2019.
News
An exciting development is that we are collaborating with our colleagues at Wikitongues on a Language Sustainability Toolkit that will come out in 2020. Stay tuned for more details on that!
In the coming months we will also announce new publications, volunteer opportunities, a TEDx talk, and more. We will also be launching new mobile-friendly Talking Dictionaries and creating online opportunities for activists to learn how to build them remotely by engaging with us online and forging peer-to-peer networks.
Want to support us? Donate securely online.
Fieldwork
How the Birhor Treat a Snakebite
Grants
This year, we were pleased to officially announce that we received a three-year grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Linguistics Program. The project is entitled “Sora Typological Characteristics: Towards a Re-Evaluation of South Asian Human History” and is funded by grant award NSF/BCS #1844532. We are grateful for the support and excited about this undertaking!
Public Events
Thank you to everyone who came out to our “Speak Volumes” events in New York City, Seattle and San Francisco this year. It was a pleasure to meet so many colleagues and connect with friends new and old. We raised funds and forged strong connections with like-minded researchers and organizations dedicated to preserving and revitalizing endangered languages. Shout-out to our Director of Development, Ms. Morgan Mann, for organizing these events!
Conferences
We were thrilled to present at the University of Pittsburgh‘s “Intersections of Language and Nature” conference. The event discussed interdisciplinary approaches to conservation, documentation and access, and included conservationists, scholars and indigenous experts from around the world.
Living Tongues indigenous language activist Andres Ozuna presented about his language Yshyr Ebytoso (Ishir, Chamacoco) and efforts to conserve it, as well as reclaim his people’s ancestral lands in Paraguay. Living Tongues Program Director Anna Luisa Daigneault unveiled the new Talking Dictionary mobile app to the audience, and Living Tongues Director of Research K. David Harrison delivered the keynote speech.
Living Tongues linguists presented at the 35th South Asian Languages Analysis Roundtable (#SALA35) that was hosted by the “National institute of oriental languages and civilizations” (INALCO), in Paris, France. Dr. Greg Anderson and Opino Gomango presented a joint paper on Sora linguistics entitled: “The fallacy of rhythmic holism: What Sora is really like.”
The 8th International Conference on Austroasiatic Linguistics (ICAAL 8) was held in Chiang Mai, Thailand, in August 2019. It was hosted by The Myanmar Center at the Faculty of Humanities, Chiang Mai University. Living Tongues linguists presented on various interesting topics.
The 24th biennial conference of the International Society for Historical Linguistics took place in July 2019 at the Australian National University in Canberra, Australia. Living Tongues linguists had an excellent time doing their presentations, connecting with other researchers and attending fascinating panels.
Read more about this conference.
Living Tongues linguist Dr. Luke Horo presented at the 19th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences (#ICPhS2019) in Melbourne, Australia. His paper was entitled “Vowel dispersion as a cue for prominence in Sora”. Read more here.
Living Tongues linguist & Sora Project Coordinator Opino Gomango gave a talk entitled “The Numeral System in the Sora Language” at the 5th National Language Conference in Odisha State, India. The event was jointly organized by the Ravenshaw University and the Institute of Odia Studies & Research (IOSR).
The 24th biennial conference of the International Society for Historical Linguistics took place in July 2019 at the Australian National University in Canberra, Australia. Living Tongues Director Dr. Gregory D. S. Anderson, along with Living Tongues linguists Dr. Luke Horo, Mr. Opino Gomango and Dr. Bikram Jora made a joint presentation at the conference entitled “Munda Historical Syntax: What is inherited, what is innovated, what is copied?”
Dr. Mark Donohue gave a talk entitled “Shortcuts through syntax to discourse: managing information structure in Tukang Besi” as an invited speaker at the workshop Prominence in Austronesian Languages, at The Australian National University (Canberra, Australia, 9-10 December 2019).
Dr. Donohue also taught a one-week short course on voice systems, valency changing devices, and the relationship of these operations to pragmatics in languages of the Pacific. The workshop was titled “Diathesis, voice and valency: views from the Pacific” and took place at the National Research University Higher School of Economics (Linguistics), Moscow, Russian Federation in April 2019. He also published many new papers in 2019. See his full bibliography for all of his works.
Publications
“Two decades ago, I walked through the Siberian taiga with Marta Kongarayeva (born 1930), a lifelong huntress and forager, and one of the last speakers of Tofa. Having dwelled in the forest her entire life, Marta also inhabited a linguistic world that rendered it legible. She could name the most minute, yet meaningful, signs—tiny flowers blooming on the forest floor, insect chirps, lunar phases, patterns in lake ice, the creak of cedar cones disgorging their nuts. These signs spoke to Marta, telling her what day it was in the lunar calendar, what to gather, where to hunt, and how to survive.”
– K. David Harrison
An excellent piece by K. David Harrison on environmental linguistics was published in Language Magazine in 2019. Need to expand your mind for a few moments and contemplate the vastness of linguistic diversity? Read his article here.
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“Why are languages important? Languages are a living manifestation of humanity’s long history on this planet. Reaching across time like a tapestry weaving generations together, languages transmit centuries of accumulated wisdom related to human adaptation and survival. They contain vital information related to land management, subsistence patterns, kinship and social relationships, local customs, cosmology and much more. Every language represents a unique way of interpreting and conveying the human experience in a specific cultural and environmental context. Languages are ever-evolving—they are shared museums of the mind. Nor are they static; they adapt and change over time, depending on the speakers’ expressive needs and social context.”
– Anna Luisa Daigneault
In commemoration of the United Nations’ Year of Indigenous Languages (IYIL 2019), Living Tongues Program Director Anna Luisa Daigneault published a piece in Global Voices entitled “Museums of the mind: Why we should preserve endangered languages.”
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One of the many publication highlights of 2019 was seeing this book come out! Mapudungun poet, language activist and Living Tongues collaborator María Huenuñir wrote a beautiful lyrical poem “Mapuche Zomo” (Mapuche Woman) about her identity and heritage. The poem (and its translation into English by Anna Luisa Daigneault) was included in a wonderful publication called “Poems from the Edge of Extinction” edited by Chris McCabe (Chambers Books) is now available online, and in bookstores in the Americas and in Europe. Read more here.
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“A growing movement of language activists, cultural stakeholders, and scholars are finding new ways to foster generations of speakers through everything from digital dictionaries to drum circles. These programs are elevating the status of heritage languages in the public eye, providing opportunities for people to connect, and helping marginalized communities address longstanding discrimination.”
– Anna Luisa Daigneault
Living Tongues Program Director Anna Luisa Daigneault published a piece about language revitalization in SAPIENS Magazine. A great, inspiring read to close out your year! Read here.
Many of you are already members, but if you are not, please consider becoming a member of our brand-new Society! It’s a great way to support us, receive invites to exclusive online live-streams with our researchers, and learn about our work behind the scenes. Sign up here: https://livingtongues.org/living-tongues-society/
In the Press
Meet The People Fighting To Save Endangered Languages In North Carolina
Indigenous Languages in the Internet Age: How For-Profit and Non-Profits Alike Help the Americas’ Languages Go Digital
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Want to support us? Donate online.
If you have any questions about donating, please contact Morgan Mann at morgan@livingtongues.org
If you have any questions about our programs and research, contact Anna Luisa Daigneault at annaluisa@livingtongues.org
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