Creating Orthographies For Endangered Languages

This volume discusses how orthographies are being developed and implemented in the specific context of language endangerment and revitalisation. Chapters are written by academics working in the field of language endangerment and also by members of indigenous communities working 'at the coalface' of language support and maintenance.

While investigating endangered languages, many researchers become interested in developing literacy for these languages. However, often their linguistic training has not provided practical guidance in this area. This book, with contributions by experienced practitioners, helps fill this gap. Both foundational theory and specific case studies are addressed in this work. Non-linguistic factors are described, particularly sociolinguistic issues that determine acceptability of orthographies. A principled approach to the level of phonological representation for orthographies is proposed, applying recent phonological theory. The thorny issues of how to determine word breaks and how to mark tone in an orthography are explored. "Overly hasty orthographies" and the benefits of allowing time for an orthography to settle are discussed. Principles of the foundational chapters are further exemplified by detailed case studies from Mexico, Peru, California, Nepal, and Southeast Asia, which vividly illustrate the variety of local conditions that must be taken into account. The combination of theoretical and practical makes this book unique. It will benefit those involved in helping establish orthographies for hitherto-unwritten languages, and provide concrete guidance through crucial issues. Michael Cahill (Ph.D. 1999, Ohio State University) developed the Konni orthography in Ghana. He was SIL's International Linguistics Coordinator for eleven years, and is on the LSA's Committee on Endangered Languages and their Preservation. Keren Rice (Ph.D. 1976, University of Toronto) helped standardize the orthography of Slavey, and has taught on orthography development at InField/CoLang. She was LSA President in 2012 and is currently University Professor at the University of Toronto.

Written by leading international scholars and activists, this guidebook provides ideas and strategies to support language revitalization.

The endangered languages crisis is widely acknowledged among scholars who deal with languages and indigenous peoples as one of the most pressing problems facing humanity, posing moral, practical, and scientific issues of enormous proportions. Simply put, no area of the world is immune from language endangerment. The Oxford Handbook of Endangered Languages, in 39 chapters, provides a comprehensive overview of the efforts that are being undertaken to deal with this crisis. A comprehensive reference reflecting the breadth of the field, the Handbook presents in detail both the range of thinking about language endangerment and the variety of responses to it, and broadens understanding of language endangerment, language documentation, and language revitalization, encouraging further research. The Handbook is organized into five parts. Part 1, Endangered Languages, addresses the fundamental issues that are essential to understanding the nature of the endangered languages crisis. Part 2, Language Documentation, provides an overview of the issues and activities of concern to linguists and others in their efforts to record and document endangered languages. Part 3, Language Revitalization, includes approaches, practices, and strategies for revitalizing endangered and sleeping ("dormant") languages. Part 4, Endangered Languages and Biocultural Diversity, extends the discussion of language endangerment beyond its conventional boundaries to consider the interrelationship of language, culture, and environment, and the common forces that now threaten the sustainability of their diversity. Part 5, Looking to the Future, addresses a variety of topics that are certain to be of consequence in future efforts to document and revitalize endangered languages.

It is generally agreed that about 7,000 languages are spoken across the world today and at least half may no longer be spoken by the end of this century. This state-of-the-art Handbook examines the reasons behind this dramatic loss of linguistic diversity, why it matters, and what can be done to document and support endangered languages. The volume is relevant not only to researchers in language endangerment, language shift and language death, but to anyone interested in the languages and cultures of the world. It is accessible both to specialists and non-specialists: researchers will find cutting-edge contributions from acknowledged experts in their fields, while students, activists and other interested readers will find a wealth of readable yet thorough and up-to-date information.

Papers for the fourth Foundation for Endangered Languages (FEL) Conference include the following: "Endangered languages and Literacy" (Nicholas Ostler, Blair Rudes); "Keynote Address: On Native Language Literacy: a Personal Perspective" (Ofelia Zepeda); "A Community's Solution to Some Literacy Problems: The Mayangna of Nicaragua" (Elena Benedicto); "Pathway to an Acceptable Orthography" (Francene Patterson); "Technology, Literacy, and Orality: The Case of Coeur d'Alene Language" (Gary Sobbing, Audra Vincent); "Building a Frame for Our Past: Contemporary Guatemalan Mayan Literature" (R. McKenna Brown); "The Future of Koho: Mon-Khmer Language of Vietnam" (Neil H. Olsen); "The Applied Linguist in Indian Country: Preservation and Revival of the Catawba Language" (Claudia Y. Heinemann-Priest); "How Do You Write Lisu?" (David L. Morse, Thomas M. Tehan); "Orthography as Literacy: How Manx Was Reduced to Writing" (Mark Sebba); "Four Orthographies for Forest Nenets?" (Tapani Salminen); "When You Choose, Must You Lose? Standard Orthography versus Dialect Diversity" (Blair A. Rudes); "Developing a Standard Orthography for an Oral Language: The Innu Experiment" (Anne-Marie Baraby); "Literacy Ideologies and the Future of Gascon" (Thomas Field); "Perspectives on Literacy in Endangered Language Revitalization" (Patricia Shaw); "Incorporating Literacy Style Prior to Literacy in the Elementary Tribal School" (Kristin Denham, Kevin George, Erek Rensink, Jonathan Sarr); "Literacy Ability and Practice in Peru: An Indigenous Account" (Kathleen Tacelosky); "The Bilingual-Bicultural Literacy Program for the Tarahumara of Chihuahua" (Carla Paciotto); "The Prospect of Taiwanese Indigenous Language Instruction in Taiwan: Looking at a Successful American Indian Community School" (Jiwas Bawan); "All Literate and Nothing to Read: The Problem of the Lack of Written Literature in Rotuman" (Marit Vamarsai); "Gaulish Literacy: A Dying Glimmer" (Nicholas Ostler); "Orthography, Lexicography, and Language Change" (Ivy Doak, Timothy Montler); "Limitations of Literacy in Bagri" (Lakhan Gusain); and "Semantic Barriers to Literacy in the Sierra Tarahumara" (Julia E. Lonergan). References are included at the end of each paper. (KFT)

Understanding sociolinguistics as a theoretical and methodological framework hopefully could attempt to promote change and social development in human communities. Yet it still presents important political, epistemological, methodological and theoretical challenges. A sociolinguistics of development, in which the revitalization of linguistic communities is the priority, opens new perspectives for the emerging field of linguistic documentation, in which the societal aspects of research, stressed by sociolinguistics, have frequently been marginal. The need to focus on the documentation of linguistic communities to contribute to the revitalization of these communities requires an in-depth revision of a number of different perspectives. Especially regarding the links between commonly separated fields of enquiry such as sociolinguistics, documentation and revitalization. Instead of creating mere museum pieces of academic contemplation for the future, as has been the major trend up to now in language documentation and even sociolinguistics, there is a growing concern to join forces to revitalize the actual use of endangered languages in order to place languages as a main focus of a community s development which constitutes a major challenge for both scholars, civil society and speakers alike."