Language Legacies Grant Recipients - 2018
I Wayan Arka & Mary Dalrymple – Documentation of Enggano
Enggano is spoken on an island off the coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. Though government policy requires that local language and culture be taught in schools, there are currently not enough materials to adequately teach Enggano. This project, therefore, will consist of recording, transcribing and analyzing traditional stories and making them available on the project website. The ultimate goal of this project is to create a full dataset of transcribed and translated video and a reference grammar of the language.
Anna Belew & Sammy Mbipite – Youth Training for Documentation and Conservation of Iyasa
Iyasa is an under-documented Coastal Bantu language of Cameroon. This project aims to document and conserve the language as well as train youth to document and learn more of the language and culture. As part of this project, high school students will be trained in the use of audio recording for language documentation and transcription. Their work will then be published and distributed to the community. It will also be made available online.
Patrick Burtt – We say Waši-šiw: Washoe Language Documentation
Washoe is a language spoken in the Southwestern United States. It has an estimated 20 fluent first- language speakers remaining. This project will produce a database from literature found at the University of California, Los Angeles and the University of Nevada, Reno as well as interviews with native speakers, which will be used in revitalization efforts and for further research.
Randall Cornelius – Oneida Language Preservation Project
Oneida, an indigenous language spoken in Wisconsin, has two remaining native speakers. As a part of language revitalization efforts, this project will convert more than 500 interviews stored on fragile audiotape into digital files. The resulting files will be made available to the community as part of revitalization efforts.
Akpobome Diffre-Odiete – Morpho-Syntactic Documentation of Uvwie
Uvwie is the most endangered of the three languages spoken by the Urhobo ethnic group in Delta State in Southern Nigeria. There is currently no grammar of Uvwie, which is being threatened by the effects of globalization and urbanization. This project will consist of a morphosyntactic analysis of naming in Uvwie, which will complement existing works. A reader and accompanying DVD will also be produced and will include materials documented as part of the project as well as grammar and vocabulary exercises. These will be distributed to the community and Delta State University.
Javier Domingo – Communicative Uses in Aonekko ‘a’ien- Documentation of its Last Speaker
This project seeks to document Tehuelche (Aonekko ‘a’ien), an indigenous language of Southern Patagonia. This documentation will consist of at least 20 hours of audio recordings of the last known speaker of Tehuelche incommunicative settings. The gathered data will be used in revitalization efforts, and to study language attrition, as the last documentation of Tehuelche was conducted in 1998 and was focused on formal documentation.
Joseph Dupris – Naat ?a hemkank'lamaqlaqsyalank
This project will facilitate a series of 3-day language skills workshops, during which immersion training will be provided to tribal community members. It will also collect recordings to inform a tribally-centered approach to language revitalization. Klamath, which is a tribal language spoken in Southern Oregon and Northern California, has no remaining first-language speakers, and has an estimated 10 “fluent” speakers, but is the subject of revitalization efforts.
Aldrin P. Lee – A Preliminary Documentation of the Butuanon Language
This project will document and create a grammar sketch of Butuanon, a Philippine Southern Visayan language. Butuanon is a tribal language which is experiencing a rapid decline due to a lack of governmental recognition. This project aims to restore to some degree the pride of those that do speak Butuanon and fuel revitalization efforts.
Ben Levine – Loss and Change: Video Documentation of Endangered Zapoteco in the Context of Documentation of Natural Disaster
Tehuántepec Zapoteco is an under-documented variant of Zapoteco which is experiencing decline due to globalization and the Mexican government’s educational policies. This project aims to record natural group conversation in the context of the earthquake that devastated the area in September 2017. The earthquake destroyed both infrastructure and civic institutions, and this project hopes to give speakers a chance to reflect on loss in order to take steps to resolve and change it
Tomás Gómez López – Documentation of the Lexicon of the Tseltal of Villa de las Rosas
This project will document about 2,200 new lexical items from the Villade las Rosas dialect of Tseltal. The documentation will consist of recordings and translations into Spanish and will contribute to a Tseltal dictionary. Tseltal, spoken in Chiapas, Mexico, has an estimated 925 remaining speakers, but is not often acquired by younger generations. This project, therefore, hopes to provide resources for future learners of Tseltal.
Joseph Lovestrand – Documentation of the Barayin Language
Barayin is a Chadic language with an estimated 5,000 speakers. It has four dialects, only two of which, Jalkiya and Giliya, are mutually intelligible. This project will produce transcriptions and translations of an existing video corpus of these dialects. This transcription will contribute much needed documentation to the community, which has been involved in revitalization efforts.
Martin Mössmer – Xri Rising from the Ashes: The Last Speakers of an ‘Extinct’ Language
A member of the Khoe family, Xri has two known speakers. The community has expressed a desire to relearn the language, the use of which was too dangerous during Apartheid. This project will consist of interviews of the two remaining speakers and will constitute the only known resources for the Xri language. These interviews will then be made available online as part of revitalization efforts.
Paul Mountain & Anthony M. Lewis – The Creation of a Mobile Telephone Application for Lower Koyukon
Lower Koyukon, an indigenous language of Alaska, is estimated to have10 native speakers left. As part of language revitalization efforts, an app 10 native speakers left. As part of language revitalization efforts, an app will be created which interfaces with a children’s book created via a previous project. This app will provide translation and pronunciation of the phrases in the book and is expected to assist both children and adult language learners.
Manuel Andrés Pérez Pérez & Juan Silverio Dolores – Documentation of Speech in Tenango Otomí
Sierra Otomí is a language spoken in Veracruz, Puebla, and Hidalgo, Mexico. It is part of the Oto-pamean family and has three mutually intelligible dialects, the smallest of which is Tenango Otomí. This project will produce a corpus of Tenango Otomí, which will include both spoken and written materials. Some of these materials will be reformatted and distributed to community libraries and schools for educational purposes, as there is a lack of educational materials in the Tenango dialect of Sierra Otomí.
Veronica Quillien – Bog or to fix what has been disturbed
This project will involve the continuation of a language and art camp in Cameroon, which centers around Bàsàa, an indigenous language. At this camp, the process of making and remaking indigenous culture through language and art will be documented. This study aims to use art as a structure with which the participants will be able to reclaim their culture through language, as a positive support to emotionally mitigate the intersecting challenges of colonialism and academia.
Veronica E. Tiller – Restoring Dignity to the Translation of the Jicarilla Apache Language
For this project, a team of Jicarilla Apache speakers will translate works originally collected for anthropological study, first into Apache and then back into English. The works that will be translated were produced originally by English-speaking scholars who consulted with Native individuals who did not have a high degree of fluency in English. As these accounts and stories have informed negative and overly simplistic stereotypes of Apache peoples, their translations will help restore the dignity and complexity of early indigenous accounts.
Rebecca Whitney – Documentation of Quapaw language
Quapaw, a Siouan language, was described as ‘extinct’ in 1989; however, there is one remaining speaker who teaches beginning classes at a local museum. This project will involve a six-month language apprenticeship and will serve as a base for further revitalization efforts. Throughout the apprenticeship, the phonology, vocabulary and other linguistic properties will also be studied for later documentation.
Enggano is spoken on an island off the coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. Though government policy requires that local language and culture be taught in schools, there are currently not enough materials to adequately teach Enggano. This project, therefore, will consist of recording, transcribing and analyzing traditional stories and making them available on the project website. The ultimate goal of this project is to create a full dataset of transcribed and translated video and a reference grammar of the language.
Anna Belew & Sammy Mbipite – Youth Training for Documentation and Conservation of Iyasa
Iyasa is an under-documented Coastal Bantu language of Cameroon. This project aims to document and conserve the language as well as train youth to document and learn more of the language and culture. As part of this project, high school students will be trained in the use of audio recording for language documentation and transcription. Their work will then be published and distributed to the community. It will also be made available online.
Patrick Burtt – We say Waši-šiw: Washoe Language Documentation
Washoe is a language spoken in the Southwestern United States. It has an estimated 20 fluent first- language speakers remaining. This project will produce a database from literature found at the University of California, Los Angeles and the University of Nevada, Reno as well as interviews with native speakers, which will be used in revitalization efforts and for further research.
Randall Cornelius – Oneida Language Preservation Project
Oneida, an indigenous language spoken in Wisconsin, has two remaining native speakers. As a part of language revitalization efforts, this project will convert more than 500 interviews stored on fragile audiotape into digital files. The resulting files will be made available to the community as part of revitalization efforts.
Akpobome Diffre-Odiete – Morpho-Syntactic Documentation of Uvwie
Uvwie is the most endangered of the three languages spoken by the Urhobo ethnic group in Delta State in Southern Nigeria. There is currently no grammar of Uvwie, which is being threatened by the effects of globalization and urbanization. This project will consist of a morphosyntactic analysis of naming in Uvwie, which will complement existing works. A reader and accompanying DVD will also be produced and will include materials documented as part of the project as well as grammar and vocabulary exercises. These will be distributed to the community and Delta State University.
Javier Domingo – Communicative Uses in Aonekko ‘a’ien- Documentation of its Last Speaker
This project seeks to document Tehuelche (Aonekko ‘a’ien), an indigenous language of Southern Patagonia. This documentation will consist of at least 20 hours of audio recordings of the last known speaker of Tehuelche incommunicative settings. The gathered data will be used in revitalization efforts, and to study language attrition, as the last documentation of Tehuelche was conducted in 1998 and was focused on formal documentation.
Joseph Dupris – Naat ?a hemkank'lamaqlaqsyalank
This project will facilitate a series of 3-day language skills workshops, during which immersion training will be provided to tribal community members. It will also collect recordings to inform a tribally-centered approach to language revitalization. Klamath, which is a tribal language spoken in Southern Oregon and Northern California, has no remaining first-language speakers, and has an estimated 10 “fluent” speakers, but is the subject of revitalization efforts.
Aldrin P. Lee – A Preliminary Documentation of the Butuanon Language
This project will document and create a grammar sketch of Butuanon, a Philippine Southern Visayan language. Butuanon is a tribal language which is experiencing a rapid decline due to a lack of governmental recognition. This project aims to restore to some degree the pride of those that do speak Butuanon and fuel revitalization efforts.
Ben Levine – Loss and Change: Video Documentation of Endangered Zapoteco in the Context of Documentation of Natural Disaster
Tehuántepec Zapoteco is an under-documented variant of Zapoteco which is experiencing decline due to globalization and the Mexican government’s educational policies. This project aims to record natural group conversation in the context of the earthquake that devastated the area in September 2017. The earthquake destroyed both infrastructure and civic institutions, and this project hopes to give speakers a chance to reflect on loss in order to take steps to resolve and change it
Tomás Gómez López – Documentation of the Lexicon of the Tseltal of Villa de las Rosas
This project will document about 2,200 new lexical items from the Villade las Rosas dialect of Tseltal. The documentation will consist of recordings and translations into Spanish and will contribute to a Tseltal dictionary. Tseltal, spoken in Chiapas, Mexico, has an estimated 925 remaining speakers, but is not often acquired by younger generations. This project, therefore, hopes to provide resources for future learners of Tseltal.
Joseph Lovestrand – Documentation of the Barayin Language
Barayin is a Chadic language with an estimated 5,000 speakers. It has four dialects, only two of which, Jalkiya and Giliya, are mutually intelligible. This project will produce transcriptions and translations of an existing video corpus of these dialects. This transcription will contribute much needed documentation to the community, which has been involved in revitalization efforts.
Martin Mössmer – Xri Rising from the Ashes: The Last Speakers of an ‘Extinct’ Language
A member of the Khoe family, Xri has two known speakers. The community has expressed a desire to relearn the language, the use of which was too dangerous during Apartheid. This project will consist of interviews of the two remaining speakers and will constitute the only known resources for the Xri language. These interviews will then be made available online as part of revitalization efforts.
Paul Mountain & Anthony M. Lewis – The Creation of a Mobile Telephone Application for Lower Koyukon
Lower Koyukon, an indigenous language of Alaska, is estimated to have10 native speakers left. As part of language revitalization efforts, an app 10 native speakers left. As part of language revitalization efforts, an app will be created which interfaces with a children’s book created via a previous project. This app will provide translation and pronunciation of the phrases in the book and is expected to assist both children and adult language learners.
Manuel Andrés Pérez Pérez & Juan Silverio Dolores – Documentation of Speech in Tenango Otomí
Sierra Otomí is a language spoken in Veracruz, Puebla, and Hidalgo, Mexico. It is part of the Oto-pamean family and has three mutually intelligible dialects, the smallest of which is Tenango Otomí. This project will produce a corpus of Tenango Otomí, which will include both spoken and written materials. Some of these materials will be reformatted and distributed to community libraries and schools for educational purposes, as there is a lack of educational materials in the Tenango dialect of Sierra Otomí.
Veronica Quillien – Bog or to fix what has been disturbed
This project will involve the continuation of a language and art camp in Cameroon, which centers around Bàsàa, an indigenous language. At this camp, the process of making and remaking indigenous culture through language and art will be documented. This study aims to use art as a structure with which the participants will be able to reclaim their culture through language, as a positive support to emotionally mitigate the intersecting challenges of colonialism and academia.
Veronica E. Tiller – Restoring Dignity to the Translation of the Jicarilla Apache Language
For this project, a team of Jicarilla Apache speakers will translate works originally collected for anthropological study, first into Apache and then back into English. The works that will be translated were produced originally by English-speaking scholars who consulted with Native individuals who did not have a high degree of fluency in English. As these accounts and stories have informed negative and overly simplistic stereotypes of Apache peoples, their translations will help restore the dignity and complexity of early indigenous accounts.
Rebecca Whitney – Documentation of Quapaw language
Quapaw, a Siouan language, was described as ‘extinct’ in 1989; however, there is one remaining speaker who teaches beginning classes at a local museum. This project will involve a six-month language apprenticeship and will serve as a base for further revitalization efforts. Throughout the apprenticeship, the phonology, vocabulary and other linguistic properties will also be studied for later documentation.