What do we lose when a language dies, and what does it take to save one?
New perspectives in Occitan literature conference: London, 23 Sept.
Occitan is the literary language of the south of France, often known as Provençal. Grains of Gold, an anthology (ed. James Thomas) is also out, from troubadours (and trobairitz!) to today. http://www.francisboutle.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id=119
Revitalisation of the Nivkh language on Sakhalin
Meeting of Finnish scholars with Nivkh people
Discussion with Finnish scholars about language revitalisation
A project of Helsinki University on Sakhalin
80th birthday of Nivkh doyen
Vladimir Sangi, the acknowledged patriarch of writing in Nivkh (native to Sakhalin island on the extreme east of Siberia) was fêted by UNESCO in Paris on 18 March 2015.
Petition on behalf of school & home supporting Kven language in Norway
The municipality of Porsanger, in Northern Norway has decided to close Børselv school and later Solbrått old people’s home, both located in Børselv, a small village where the minority language Kven still has a stronger position among the inhabitants.
Updated - Virtual Library for Aboriginal Languages of Australia
The Virtual Library for Aboriginal Languages of Australia has now been updated; it now lists 370 web resources for Australian languages, all annotated and categorised by language and content, and with a searchable catalogue.
ELDP lives on - Endangered Languages Documentation Project
Arcadia (the successor to the Lisbet Rausing fund) has renewed ELDP grant agreement for another 5 years. This means that ELDP (the granting component of the Hans Rausing Endangered Languages Project) will continue to provide grants for five more years.
From Dust to Digital: New publication on Endangered Archives
Book with articles on Archives of Endangered Languages
After decades of Russian dominance, Belarus begins to reclaim its language
Guardian article on changing status of Belarusian, hitherto demeaned by its own government
Are lost languages coming back?
BBC Feature on learners of Manx, Cornish, Jèrriais, Guernesiais
Star man from the Amazon
Elegiac piece about a carving shaman of the Palikur people.
Expert Meeting on Improving Access to Multilingual Cyberspace
Organised by UNESCO, Paris 28-29 October 2014
Preparation of an action plan for Multilingualism and Language Diversity
a nice article on Okinawan
in the Washington Post. It centres on Byron FIja, (as always!) and mentions also the work of UNESCO.
AUT in Auckland NZ offer online MA in language revitalisation
Creating language revitalisation strategists to transform communities: language strategists, language planners, revivalists, activists, educationalists, digital language resources.
Australian Indigenous Language News Radio
The ABC with the help of the Aboriginal Interpreter Service in the Northern Territory is trialling an Indigenous language News Service in Warlpiri and Yolngu Matha for the next year. Two ABC news bulletins will be recorded each weekday.
BBC reports claim that "Economic success 'drives language extinction' "
Cited source: Tatsuya Amano, from the University of Cambridge, writing in Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
Published 3 September 2014 doi: 10.1098/rspb.2014.1574
Third InternationalConference on Linguistic Diversity in Cyberspace
This conference took place from 28 June until 3 July 2014 in Yakutsk, Russian Federation and gathered representatives from almost 50 countries of diverse regions of the world.
Report on Minority Languages in Germany
The Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers released a new report in June that calls on Germany to step up efforts in favour of regional and minority languages and recommends Germany to continue and step up measures to teach North Frisian in Schleswig-
EL Publishing (ELPub) is to publish peer-reviewed open access electronic and print journals, multimedia and monographs, all on documentation and support of endangered languages. Editors - Peter Austin, David Nathan, Julia Sallabank.
Links between language and biodiversity dangers: Report in UK Observer
Derived from new academic report by Jonathan Loh and David Harmon: Biocultural Diversity http://awsassets.panda.org/downloads/biocultural_report__june_2014.pdf
Talking Dictionary of Tlacolula Zapotec
Linguistics Students from Swarthmore College Help Revitalize Critically Endangered Language in Mexico
Legislator's concern for Mongolian
"for Mongolia, we have overbalanced our state policy on language and culture in the last part of the 20th century"
Giving the rainforest back to the Awa tribe
Brazilian government measures to protect an "uncontacted" people of the Amazon
Military use of Choctaw in World War I
"Code talk" was not a new idea from World War II.
Catholic Church in Americas moves to accept indigenous languages
For centuries, the Catholic Church in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas has only officially delivered church services in either Latin or Spanish. But now...
international workshops and training courses on language documentation and revitalisation in 2014
The first workshop, hosted by the Linguistic Dynamics Science Project, will take place on 19-25 February at Tokyo University of Foreign Studies; the second, hosted by Stockholm University, will take place on 23 June – 4 July in Stockholm and the third, ho
Plants, animals, words: a multidisciplinary workshop: SOAS 19-21 Sept 2013
A workshop to encourage interdisciplinary research in the areas of linguistics and ethno-biology by bringing together researchers from these fields and others. Sharing of perspectives, followed by hands-on skills workshops and presentations, case studies.
Call for Papers: LTC Workshop on "Less Resourced Languages, new technologies, new challenges and opportunities",
Submission deadline: 22 September 2013, for Conference in Poznan, Poland, 8 December 2013
Great Language Game - how many languages can you recognize aurally?
The task is to identify a snatch of news report in an arbitrary language, with a multiple-choice option. A fine test of linguistic wit.
Rapping in Saami
Nils Rune Utsi is the founding member of Slincraze, a rap group from Maze, a village in northern Norway.
Baktun: Telenovela (soap opera) in Yukatek Maya
Baktun (pronounced bak-TOON) refers to a megacycle of the Mayan Long Count calendar and was deliberately chosen as the title in light of the attention it received in December 2012. "Cycle" as a concept keeps coming back!
Reviving Yurok: Saving one of California's 90 languages
BBC short feature on revival activity re California's biggest surviving indigenous language
Survival of Texas German
The BBC reports Hans Boas's study of this vanishing dialect, a long way from home.
Barngarla reclamation workshop, Whyalla, South Australia
Barngala restoration proceeds, as one language among many in South Australia.
Kindle publisher reverses refusal to handle Cornish text
UK press Diglot Books takes on the might of Amazon to get its Cornish children's story out to readers, after being told that Matthew and the Wellington Boots (Kernewek: Matthew ha'n Eskisyow Glaw ) was in a language that is "not currently supported".
World Oral Literature Project pauses and takes stock...
This impressive collection is not receiving the new funding it had applied for, hence is closed to new additions.
17th edition of SIL Ethnologue, showing every language's relative strength
Newly introduced in this edition is an estimate of the level of development versus endangerment for every language listed. These estimates use the EGIDS, or Expanded Graded Intergenerational Disruption Scale ( based on the GIDS of Joshua Fishman).
Kaurna revival in Australia
emphasizing the role of historical records, but also the attempt to re-enter the tradition of child transmission
Our Language in Your Hands
This is a new BBC Radio 4 series, presented by the World Oral Literature Project, broadcast at 11:00-11:30am GMT on Mondays 3, 10 and 17 December 2012, and subsequently available on podcast.
Kudiyattam - Creating and Destroying the Universe in Twenty-Nine Nights
An ancient and rare art-form in an amalgam of classical languages (Sanskrit and Malayalam), if not an endangered one.
Smithsonian Folklife Festival 2013 to feature endangered languages
This annual cultural event of Washington DC, now in its 5th decade, will this year feature the theme "One World, Many Voices: Endangered Languages and Cultural Heritage".
Can the young be saviours of regional dialects?
Considers the value of sustaining English dialects in the UK.
Lakota Immersion Childcare
We are creating an Lakota immersion daycare here on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, the second-poorest county in the US, before the language becomes extinct.
Ghil'ad Zuckermann hits the ground running Aotearoa
Language revival expert calls for native tongue title.
Australia's NT government quietly abandons "bilingual ban" in Aboriginal schools
Marion Scrymgour: “What I got wrong was saying kids will only be speaking English for the first four hours of school … saying kids won’t be able to speak their own language was a huge mistake of mine, and I've moved on."
Paraguayan thrash metal band keeps it real with native tongue
Use of Guaraní language in new rock music
The duo fusing the Argentine Qom dialect with electronica
Qom is a dialect of the Toba language, spoken in the Gran Chaco.
Chilean Mapuches preserve linguistic heritage through hip-hop
Rap in the Mapudungun language
In Mysore, Keeping Sanskrit Alive on Newsprint
The other side of endangerment: "dead" celebrity languages that will not lie down.
Nicholas Ostler on the History and Diversity of Language
My conversation with Toby Ash on "Five Books on the Browser".
Institute aims to keep languages alive
The CoLang 2012 Institute on Collaborative Language Research, is a six-week opportunity for participants to become better trained in linguistic documentation.
Endangered languages - A project by the Alliance for Linguistic Diversity, under Google
The Endangered Languages Project, is an online resource to record, access, and share samples of and research on endangered languages, as well as to share advice and best practices for those working to document or strengthen languages under threat.
a series from National Geographic
Endangered Languages Quiz from the BBC
Seven questions to dig a little deeper in the substance of the languages.
Language Revitalization in the 21st century: Going Global, Staying Local
a 2-day symposium at CUNY, in New York City, 31 May to 1 June 2012, featuring Joshua Fishman, the undoubted doyen of endangered languages and their revitalisation.
War of words over tribal tongue
An article in Nature gives a basic view of the controversy over Pirãhã, which Daniel Everett argues falsifies a key Chomskyan claim about Universal Grammar.
Endangered Languages Week
Endangered Languages Week 2012 presents a variety of talks, displays, discussions, films, lectures and workshops.
Sealaska Heritage Institute publishes atlas of Native place names
a landmark book documenting more than 3,000 Native place names and their locations in Southeast Alaska.
Sound archives of endangered languages in St.Petersburg
One of the documentary films of the Frisian Broadcasting Company Omrop Fryslân on the national TV in the Netherlands (2001) which shows the position of some minority languages in Eastern Europe and the Russian Federation and the work related to the study
This is a practical technique to pick up languages from (co-operative!) native speakers. It uses a "copy-cat" method, and elements of sign language.
Society of Ethnobiology 2012 conference, "Conservation and Communities"
April 11–14, 2012 at the Denver Botanic Gardens in Colorado. Explores the importance and power of linking conservation efforts to communities.
Lost Words - a documentary film to be
A story of Native Americans fighting to save their endangered languages, a film projected by Brian McDermott, (Producer/Director) (email: firstname.lastname@example.org).
Fourth International 3L Summer School - 1-13 July 2012 Lyon, France
This 3L Lyon 2012 edition concentrates on the theme of Endangered Languages Revitalisation. The main objective will be to create a space of reflexion in an academic setting on the growing number of projects of revitalisation around the world.
Digital tools 'to save languages'
Facebook, YouTube and even texting will be the salvation of many of the world's endangered languages, it is suggested. Examples here from Tuvan (Turkic, Siberia) and Siletz Dee-ni (Salishan, NW America) better known as Tillamook.
First Person: Brian Stowell
The writer published a full-length novel in Manx, a language that only 200 people can read.
ON THE ROAD WITH BOB HOLMAN - Endangered Languages
Encounter the distinct cultures and peoples of West Africa, Asia and the Middle East in the three-part documentary On the Road with Bob Holman and discover ancient languages on the brink of extinction: Timbuktu, Dogon, Palestine, Israel.
Cymdeithas at 50
A series of articles celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Welsh language pressure group Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg (The Welsh Language Society).
We Still Live Here
Jessie Little Doe Baird and the revival of the Wampanoag language of Massachusetts
SEC Seminar – Preserving Endangered Languages and Local Knowledge
Learning tools and community initiatives in cross-cultural discussion
"Apple Siri, Google Voice could help save the world's languages."
300 widely spoken languages provide motivation for providers of digital services and devices because this group accounts for 95% of all people on earth. Google's plan to sample 300 languages from around the world to help improve its Voice Search product.
Breathing life into a dying language: Documenting Great Andamanese
Lecture by Prof Anvita Abbi at SOAS (London) on 17 November 2011
The endangered art of Arabic storytelling
Whole functions can be endangered, even in a language that is undergoing no threat.
Report of the Baikal Conference on Endangered Languages
Regional FEL Conference: ‘Multilingualism and Language Learning in China, Mongolia and Russia’ at Lake Baikal
Library to Rediscover Aboriginal Languages
The State Library in Australia’s New South Wales is putting forth a new project to preserve forgotten or endangered Aboriginal languages.
US Federal Agencies Act to Document Nearly 50 Endangered Languages
Announcement of the New Grants from NSF: the DEL program for Endangered Language Research, round 7
Itelmen Language and Culture on the web
Sample from the program of the Foundation for Siberian Cultures
Workshop “Linked Data in Linguistics”, March 7 – 9, 2012, Frankfurt/Main
We see the onset of Language Archives, Typological DBs, Lexical-Semantic Resources, Multi-layer Annotations. New sources of data online suggest new ways to link linguistic data and metadata. Abstract deadline 14 August 2011.
ELCat - Endangered Languages Catalogue
A new initiative, designed to provide accurate, up-to-date information on the endangered languages of the world, i.e., a definitive catalog of languages at risk. It will correct errors in existing databases and provide new data not available.
Cooperation Yamal-Nenets Autonomous District and Fryske Akademy
Start of a joint program for cooperation in the field of minority languages in Europe and Siberia
Can the Internet Save Endangered Languages?
Care2 (online network for green values, human rights and animal welfare) attends to Endangered Languages...
Mitra videos on endangered languages
An interesting array of different approaches to this concerning issue.
And an e-learning module on the subject, from Cecilia Odé in U. Amst....
Now pentaglossic - in 5 metropolitan languages: in het Nederlands, in English, en español, em português brasileiro, и на русском языке.
Writing Systems for Endangered Languages
ScriptSource is a dynamic, collaborative reference to the writing systems of the world, with detailed information on scripts, characters, languages - and the remaining needs for supporting them in the computing realm.
California Language Archive
A catalog and online archive of the indigenous languages of California, western North America, and the Americas
BBC feature on rock music in Welsh
Discusses the growing popularity of the music against developing language policy (and language consciousness) in Wales.
First Soillse Residential Conference – Call for Papers
MAINTAINING AND REVITALISING
MINORITY LANGUAGES IN THEIR ‘HEARTLANDS` 31 August - 3 September 2011 at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig UHI, Sleat, Isle of Skye, Scotland.
Abstract Deadline 25 June 2011.
Revival of the Wampanoag Language
One of the award winning films by Anne Makepeace that tell stories of struggle, resilience and transformation
REVIVING LANGUAGE, RESTORING CULTURE
Part of a film festival in the Amsterdam Tropentheater, Friday, 11 June, 14.00
followed by a discussion with the film producer (see program).
Mercator Newsletter Nr.71, May 2011 .
The latest web publication of the Mercator European Center on Multilingualism and Language Learning with news from the five Mercator Network partners.
Fifth International Symposium on Finno-Ugric Languages in Groningen
The Finno-Ugric contribution to international research on folklore, myth and cultural identity.
University of Groningen, 7 to 9 June 2011
Inuinnaqtun Tuhaalanga - Learn the Inuit Language Online
A recently released website for self-teaching (Canadian) Inuit languages, focuing on teaching Inuktitut as it is spoken in everyday situations.
Miners in British Columbia dig deep to save their ancestral languages
Raising funds to save what is dear to them, they note that language suppression in schools may do greater long-term damage even than child abuse.
Achuar resistance to Oil drilling in the Peruvian Amazon
A short video on the Achuar environment, and a chance to sign a petition, for submission to Talisman Energy. The organization sponsoring the petition is Amazon Watch. The Achuar will feature in this year's FEL XV conference in Quito.
Endangered Languages Week at SOAS, 9 - 14 May 2011
A week of talks, displays, discussions, films, lectures and workshops. Open day (12 May) includes over 15 exhibitors (including FEL).
Expert Seminar on “Cultural Education and Civil Society: How can Languages contribute?”
26 – 28 May 2011, Leeuwarden, The Netherlands
Summer school on Endangered Languages in St. Petersburg
The School will take place from the 27th of June until the 8th of July 2011 at the Philological Faculty of St.-Petersburg State University
Baikal Conference on Endangered Languages
FEL Regional Conference at Lake Baikal on Multilingualism and Language Learning in China, Mongolia and Russia
Minority Language Song Contest Liet International 2011
Held 19 November 2011, Udine, Italy. The only song contest for singers and bands who sing in a European minority language.
Ayapaneco (Mexico) in danger
Apparently the last two fluent speakers refuse to talk to each other
Confronting the Mass Extinction of Languages
A brief history of documentary linguistics, as current tensions arise between different approaches
Passion for preservation
Cultivating Burushaski in Gilgit, and in Denton, Texas
Cowag: Manx Gaelic Skeet
Find out all the skeet from the world of the Manx Gael at this new blog
Manx Gaelic News