Category Archives: Endangered Language Activism

Living Tongues teams up with Shure for “No Voice Left Behind” campaign

We’ve been using Shure microphones in our language documentation projects for many years because they always work reliably, even in rugged conditions. In particular, we use Shure head-mounted mics for phonetic elicitation as well as capturing oral narratives.

We are pleased to announce that we have partnered with audio company Shure for their new campaign – “No Voice Left Behind”. It highlights our efforts to record speakers of minority and under-served languages around the world, using Shure’s latest microphone, the MoveMic.

The photos below were captured by visual artists from Shure and Media.Monks during our recent fieldwork recording Santali speakers near Tezpur, Assam, India. We visited the communities of Barbil Pathar Gaon, Patia Pukhuri and Simalu Guri Gaon. Thank you to all the Santali community members who collaborated with us. Read more on the Shure website.

Shout-out to Living Tongues linguists Luke Horo, Pamir Gogoi and Greg Anderson, who worked closely with Shure during fieldwork and interviews for this project, and to program director Anna Luisa Daigneault who coordinated the production and logistics of the partnership.

 

Living Tongues & Shure In the Press

Shure Blog Post

Shure Press Release

Forbes article

Sound Guys article

PR Newswire

 

Learn more about the new MoveMic

Shure: MoveMic Landing Page

YouTube video about product details

BusinessWire

 

International Mother Language Day Events: 2024

Today (Feb 21) is International Mother Language Day! It is a great day to reflect on the importance of linguistic diversity and the profound impact language rights have on our lives and communities. We are celebrating by taking part in a wide array of events this week.

Check out this page by our partners at the Global Coalition for Language Rights to register for events related to linguistic human rights. #GLAD2


As a co-editor of a new volume, Alexander Andrason spoke at the launch of the 2023 “Linguapax International Review” this week.


Gregory D. S. Anderson is speaking at this online event: Linguists Collective Conference & Celebration of International Mother Language Day. His talk is entitled “Rare and dying languages”. See full schedule here.

Renowned linguist Dr. Gregory D. S. Anderson will take centre stage at the LC Conference and International Mother Language Day celebration, shedding light on the pressing issue of “Rare and Dying Languages of the World.” With a career dedicated to protecting linguistic diversity, Dr. Anderson will explore the formidable challenges faced by endangered languages globally. Addressing language shifts in areas such as Siberia, Taiwan, Southeast Asia, and India, he will highlight the impact of contemporary practices on linguistic endangerment, notably the rapid urbanisation in former exploitation colonies like Papua New Guinea, hastening the demise of once-vibrant languages.

Dr. Anderson’s discourse will underscore the urgency of preservation, combining academic rigour with accessible language for an engaging session that appeals to both experts and the general audience. In a world where cultural identity is intricately linked to linguistic diversity, Dr. Anderson’s presentation will serve as a compelling call to action, inviting conference attendees to delve into the challenges faced by rare and dying languages and explore potential strategies to reverse this disconcerting trend. His session will promise an enlightening journey through the global linguistic landscape, urging all to play a role in safeguarding the rich tapestry of our linguistic heritage.

 

 

New publication by Kalyan & Donohue: Linguistic diversity mapped and visualised

A landmark new paper by Siva Kalyan and Mark Donohue uncovers the main ways in which the grammars of the world’s languages vary, on the basis of a dataset consisting of over 1,000,000 data points, covering 3,089 of the world’s languages. The title of the paper is: “The Dimensions of Morphosyntactic Variation: Whorf, Greenberg and Nichols were right“.

A computational analysis reveals that the dimensions of variation that emerge from the data conform to existing proposals (e.g., the classification of languages according to whether the verb precedes or follows the direct object, or whether they rely more on case-marking or agreement to indicate the relation between the verb and its arguments), while also suggesting previously unsuspected universals (e.g., that gender and plural marking tend not to co-occur with ergativity and clusivity contrasts; see the black and white maps). The same dimensions of variation recur within individual continents, confirming their universality.

A series of maps, allowing us to visualise the different combinations of these dimensions of variation, reveals areas of typological similarity around the world. The coloured map here shows a number of areas defined purely on linguistic typological grounds, based on the first three dimensions of variation; distinctly different types of languages can easily be identified, such as those in Southeast Asia, Australia, or Mesoamerica.

The figure below the map shows the interaction of dimensions 2 and 3, with the same colouring as the map. Some identifiable regions are highlighted (from the article). The appendices provide alternative visualisations of the dimensions, as well as maps of individual features, which will be useful pedagogically as well as for research purposes.

The paper is published in Linguistics Typology at the Crossroads, and is available in open access at: https://typologyatcrossroads.unibo.it/article/view/17482.

The data and code are available at https://osf.io/u9qbe/, as is a link to an interactive globe.

 

Living Dictionaries: A Look at the Numbers in 2023

Living Dictionaries homepage map


In keeping with our mission to protect language diversity worldwide, we continue to provide assistance for a wide range of endangered and under-represented languages. We run an online platform called Living Dictionaries. It is a free, mobile-friendly, multimedia dictionary-builder for under-represented languages.

Interface languages on the Living Dictionaries platform

We currently serve 400+ languages worldwide, with a user interface available in 14 languages. Our ultimate goal is to serve all 3,000+ endangered languages. As of Dec. 2023, our platform houses over 209,000 dictionary entries. 59k entries were added in 2023 alone, which shows the platform is growing rapidly. We serve 963 citizen-linguists who are using the platform.

Gallery view of the Tepehua de Huehuetla Living Dictionary


In 2023, we imported batch datasets for over 30 minority languages, and provided direct technical support for 40 dictionary teams. Regarding the batch imports, 11 languages were from Africa, 6 from Asia, 2 from Europe, 1 from the Middle East, 6 from North America and 4 from South America. 

From editing entries to importing batches of data collected by citizen-linguists and researchers, here are the languages that we worked on this year, collaboration with partners around the globe, as well as with our internal Living Tongues teams.


Batch imports of dictionary entries (31 languages)

Afrikaans
Asante Twi
Babanki
Bono
Bum
Dza
Fante
Kalenjin
Mingang Doso
Nambya
Teshenawa
Ainu
Aghul
Chothe
Mahasuvi
Marma
Taivoan
Brezhoneg
South Saami
Jewish Neo-Aramaic
Eyak
Houma (Uma’)
Louisiana Creole
Tepehua de Huehuetla
Tseltal
Tutelo-Saponi Monacan
Awajún
Krenak
Monkox Besiro
Werikyana

Technical Support (40 languages)
’Iipay Aa (Kumeyaay)
Aché
Aewa
Aghul
Aghul (Koshan variety)
Ahlao
Angika
Atlas Vivo de Mayunmarka (Quechua Ayacucho, Peru)
Babanki
Birhor
Bit
Biyo
Bum
Cinyungwe
Damana
Garifuna
Gta’
Gutob
Ho
Honduras Garifuna
Houma (Uma’)
Htanaw
Ishir (Chamacoco)
Kharia
Khmu
Ksingmul
Mahasuvi
Mundari (various dialects)
Muniche
Muthuvan
Ngabere
Oro
Phong Tapuang
Santali
Sora
Southern Sierra Miwok
Torwali
Tutelo-Saponi Monacan
Wancho
Yanesha’

Wishing you all a safe and smooth transition into 2024!
– The Living Tongues team