Category Archives: Indigenous Language Activists

Gregory D. S. Anderson, Indigenous Language Activists, Language Documentation, Launches and Public Events, Projects, Support Endangered Languages, Talking Dictionaries

The Gutob dictionary and language materials are now online

Since 2015, we have been working with our field team in India to document Gutob, an endangered Munda language spoken in Odisha State. Here are some images from recent Gutob fieldwork as well as academic presentations using Gutob data. 

We are pleased to report that we have wrapped up the collection of materials this year, and also launched a new Gutob Talking Dictionary containing close to 2500 entries.

Furthermore, the videos, audio recordings and images from fieldwork among Gutob speakers were archived online with PARADISEC. The language documentation materials include an extensive lexical and grammatical collection in the form of recorded words, phrases, and oral texts. These were collected, annotated and transcribed by Gregory D. S. Anderson, Opino Gomango, Bikram Jora, Bondu Kirsani, Tankadhar Sisa and Gajendra Pradhan, and archived by Anna Luisa Daigneault with digital assistance from Katie Li, Shelby Sands, Murilo da Silva Barros, Henry Wu, Hannah Bishop, and Michael Horlick. The Gutob language documentation project was funded by National Science Foundation Grant Award #1500092.

Thanks for your interest in our work! Please consider making a contribution today in support of endangered language research.

Digital Resources, Endangered Language Activism, Get Involved, Indigenous Language Activists, Language Documentation, Projects, Support Endangered Languages

Volunteer Opportunity | Nov. 2017

We are looking for five remote digital volunteers to help us between Nov 15 – Dec 1, 2017. The task will involve annotating oral texts in Munda languages using ELAN software, a professional tool for the creation of complex annotations on video and audio resources. Previous experience with ELAN is not a requirement, but is preferred. A brief online training will be provided.

Volunteers will receive audio files and annotations already typed up in Microsoft Word. They will plug in the language data into ELAN and associate it with the correct portions of audio files. We are asking for a volunteer time commitment of 10-20 hours. This opportunity is ideal for:

  • Tech-savvy students who are studying linguistics
  • People who have previous experience working with ELAN
  • Scholars interested in gaining experience working with endangered language recordings

Interested? Email a short cover letter and resume with the subject line “ELAN Volunteer Nov 15-Dec 1” to coordinator Anna Luisa Daigneault at annaluisa@livingtongues.org

Thanks for your interest!

Endangered Language Activism, Indigenous Language Activists, Language Documentation, Launches and Public Events, Living Dictionaries, Media and Publicity, Projects

Dictionaries for Olùkùmi and Owé

This year, we published dictionaries for two minority languages spoken in Nigeria: Olùkùmi and Owé (a dialect of Yorùbá). This represents the first-ever attempt to put the words, definitions and usages of these two languages into print. We are pleased to see the dictionaries in print! They are also available for free download below.

DOWNLOAD LINKS

Olùkùmi Bilingual Dictionary – PDF

Owé Bilingual Dictionary – PDF

This publication project was led by Nigerian linguist Dr. Bolanle Elizabeth Arokoyo, who holds a PhD in Linguistics, and has been documenting the grammar of Olùkùmi and Owé since 2011. Dr. Arokoyo is a Lecturer at the Department of Linguistics and Nigerian Languages, University of Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria.
These dictionaries are bilingual with English, and each contain 2,000+ words and phrases. They will become tools for language preservation, promotion and revitalization initiatives, and will serve local speakers, language enthusiasts as well as researchers in Nigeria and around the world. Thank you to everyone who donated to this project and helped make it a reality!
Dr. Bolanle Arokoyo interviews Owé speakers. Nigeria, 2017

Dr. Arokoyo also collaborated with linguist Dr. Greg Anderson, coordinator Anna Luisa Daigneault and web developer Diego Córdova Nieto at Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languages for release of the online versions of these dictionaries: the Olùkùmi Living Dictionary and the Owé Living Dictionary.

These online resources contain text entries with accompanying multimedia such as audio and images. Research assistants Akano Johnson and Samuel Olanrewaju have contributed to recording audio for these Living Dictionaries. Living Tongues interns have also contributed to data entry and audio editing.

Digital Resources, Endangered Language Activism, Gregory D. S. Anderson, Indigenous Language Activists, Media and Publicity, Support Endangered Languages

Dr. Greg Anderson interview: Global Journalist

Global Journalist interviewed our Director, Dr. Greg Anderson, on the topic of reviving North America’s endangered languages.

Here is a quote from his interview: “These [languages] are the cultural libraries, the legacies of an entire lineage of history that stretches back millennia. [Language] is an unbroken window into the past; it helps shape people’s identity, their religion, their personal narratives, their cultural narratives… it’s really the main vector of identity for indigenous people.” View full video here: