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Help the
work of living tongues institute continue
Please donate
any amount
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| MAKE TAX
DEDUCTIBLE DONATIONS TO LIVING TONGUES INSTITUTE
- Your 100% tax deductible contribution can
help us preserve valuable information for future
generations in the specialized knowledge
contained in endangered languages. Please
consider Living Tongues Institute for Endangered
Languages, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization,
when planning your charitable giving. We rely
solely on the generosity of donors and grants to
fund our field expeditions, publications, and
assistance to indigenous communities struggling
for cultural survival. |
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Living Tongues
Southern South America
Project |
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Southern South America
Language Hotspot
The Southern South America Language Hotspot is found in two
discontinuous sections in the southern half of the South
American continent. The northern part covers the
Chaco-Pantanal region that stretches from southeastern
Bolivia, southwestern and southern Brazil across Paraguay to
northern Argentina. The southern portion covers the Southern
Cone region of southern Chile and southern Argentina.
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Chaco-Pantanal
A highly diverse array of languages are
found among the extant languages of the
Chaco-Pantanal region of the Southern
South America Language Hotspot. Living
Tongues surveyed the central portion of
this region in 2009 focusing on
Paraguay. Samples of three of the
languages of this region are offered
here.
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Chamacoco
(Yshyr)
Chamacoco (Yshyr) [ceg],
also known as Yshyr(o), is one of two extant languages of
the Zamucoan language family. Chamacoco (Yshyr) has approximately
1,500-2,000 speakers scattered across several villages and
towns in the northeastern part of the Paraguayan Chaco along
the Brazilian border. In 2009, Living Tongues Institute
visited the Chamacoco (Yshyr) communities of Puerto Diana and Karcha
Bahlut and discussed with Chamacoco (Yshyr) community leaders ways
we could help support their language revitalization efforts.
The first request they had was for assistance in reprinting
their first and second grade textbooks that the community
had recently developed, which they required multiple copies
of to effectively distribute them among the schools of the
region. There, working with primary consultant Kafotei (Crispulo
Martinez) in Puerto Diana and with Alejo Barras in Karcha
Bahlut, we made a range of digital audio and video
recordings, representing a sample of the lexicon and grammar
of this wonderfully complex language. Remaining in Paraguay
was field team member and follow-up coordinator Anna Luisa
Daigneault who began working with Living Tongues Institute
Indigenous Language Activist Andrés Ozuna. Andrés was
outfitted with a Language Technology Kit and was offered
initial training in Asunción.
Andrés' first book a study of Yshyr medicinal plant
knowledge and use was published late in 2009. His second
book on the Yshyr concept of truth was produced in its final
form at the Santa Fe Workshop in the spring of 2010, as well
as a
digital storybook. During
the summer of 2010, Andrés recorded several thousand words
in his language which now form the basis of the on-line
Chamacoco (Yshyr) Talking Dictionary. Work is underway
currently to expand this data set and to produce a
trilingual Chamacoco (Yshyr)-Spanish-English dictionary to
be published in late 2011 or early 2012.
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Chamacoco (Yshyr) Video Files |
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Chamacoco
(Yshyr)
Photos |
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Chamacoco (Yshyr) consultants Basso and
Alvin, Puerto Diana, Paraguay
Photo by Chris Rainier |
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Alejo Barras, Chamacoco (Yshyr)
consultant, Karcha Bahlut, Paraguay
Photo by Chris Rainier |
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Chamacoco (Yshyr) consultant Kafotei with
his son, Puerto Diana, Paraguay
Photo by Chris Rainier |
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Please consider participating in our
Adopt-a-Language program
to help us continue our work with endangered
languages.
This button allows you to donate specifically for
the Chamacoco (Yshyr) language projects |
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