Saturday 26 March 2011

PC Mag reports on Google Cherokee

Google Search, Now in Cherokee Language


PC Mag reports on Google's new Cherokee interface

The interface also supports input of Cherokee Syllabics through an on-screen keyboard.

The report includes a quote from Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chad Smith:
"We have been working hard to get our young people interested in learning our Native tongue but we cannot be successful unless they can read and write in the medium of their era – all the digital devices that are currently so popular."

Wednesday 23 March 2011

Language decline as model for decline in religious affiliation

A report about the decline in religious affiliation, Religion may become extinct in nine nations, study says, compares that decline to the decline in use of lesser-spoken languages.
One of the team, Daniel Abrams of Northwestern University, put forth a similar model in 2003 to put a numerical basis behind the decline of lesser-spoken world languages.

At its heart is the competition between speakers of different languages, and the "utility" of speaking one instead of another.

"The idea is pretty simple," said Richard Wiener of the Research Corporation for Science Advancement, and the University of Arizona.

"It posits that social groups that have more members are going to be more attractive to join, and it posits that social groups have a social status or utility.

"For example in languages, there can be greater utility or status in speaking Spanish instead of [the dying language] Quechuan in Peru, and similarly there's some kind of status or utility in being a member of a religion or not."

Tuesday 22 March 2011

Wired reports on British Library "Playtimes" project - Includes songs in endangered languages

British Library documents a century of playtime

Wired magazine reports on the new British Library microsite, documenting children's games and rhymes since 1900.

The article mentions that the collection contains content in Warumungu and Mutpurra. "Eritrean" is also listed in the article as one of the languages in the archive.

The British Library site itself, mentions "games in Norwegian and Eritrean languages (recorded Norway 2002)", which suggests that this content was recorded from Eritrean immigrants in Norway (speaking whichever eritrean language those children use), and that native languages of Norway other than Norwegian may be included.

Monday 14 March 2011

NRK Reports on Ainu after the Fukushima explosion

We are surprised that this could happen

In the wake of the recent tsunami, and the explosions at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant, Norwegian national broadcaster, NRK, interviews Shiro Kayano, leader of the World Indigenous People's Network AINU (WIN-AINU).

The broadcaster states that "So far, there have been no reports that any Ainu have been affected by the catastrophe" ("Det er foreløpig ingen rapporter om at ainuer har blitt rammet av katastrofen").

Sunday 6 March 2011

Dance act features endangered language recordings

Elisa Monte Dance season at the Joyce Theatre

The Elisa Monte Dance Company are presenting a production entitled "Dialogue with Vanishing Languages", featuring recordings of speakers of endangered languages.

According to this article on broadwayworld.com, the featured languages include Quileute, Dalabon, Jawoyn and Hokkaido Ainu

A trailer for the show, including some audio from the performance, is available on Youtube:

Friday 4 March 2011

ABC reports on language survival in South Australia

The soon to be lost languages of our Indigenous cultures


ABC reports on a five year project at the University of Adelaide, tracking the survival rates of several indigenous languages.

Pitjantjatjarra and Yankunytjatjara, are reported as being the two dominant indigenous languages of South Australia, with others being "severely endangered".

The article states that generational attitudes and relocation are leading to languages not being passed on to younger generations, and that most of the interviewees involved in the study primarily speak English.

A positive point mentioned in the article is that a sense of ancestral pride and heritage, along with a sense of language ownership and "a wish to continue dialect preservations through non-governmental agencies."

It is interesting to note that, despite the assertion by one interviewee in the university's report that
"It is everybody‟s responsibility to keep Indigenous language alive, by supporting the teaching of it in schools. And acknowledging that they are languages in their own right and not dialects."
The word dialect appears three times in the ABC article, in reference to indigenous languages. However, this could be interpreted as a stylistic effect, driven by the appearance of the word language in about half of the paragraphs.

Also included is a link to the full report delivered to the Office for the Arts (http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/201103/r728637_5853358.pdf)

Wednesday 2 March 2011

Mind your language! Save dying 100

Mind your language! Save dying 100 - HRD ministry plans rescue effort in schools & varsities

Telegraph India reports on the upcoming launch of a programme to "save over 100 Indian languages that are fast vanishing"

Various initiatives are mentioned - including
  • The foundation of departments in universities, with the intent that these departments will set up libraries and museums
  • The teaching of these languages at primary schools
  • The preparation of  Roman and Devanagari instructional material for unwritten languages.