University of Utah Works to Revitalize Lost Languages (fwd)

[phil cash cash]

Globe Link - Community
Issue: 4/14/05

University of Utah Works to Revitalize Lost Languages

By Brenda Lewis
http://www.slccglobelink.com/news/2005/04/14/Community/University.Of.Utah.Works.To.Revitalize.Lost.Languages-923218.shtml

The death of a language can be the death of a culture. The University of
Utah's Center for American Indian Languages hopes to revitalize those
languages in the Americas that may soon be lost.

"Lots and lots of people work on endangered languages, but there is no
infrastructure," Dr. Lyle Campbell, Director of CAIL said.

CAIL wants to change that by opening its doors to visiting scholars,
postdoctoral fellows and students.

Located at Fort Douglas, University of Utah Campus at 618A Detrobriand
Street, the Center has a reference library containing books and
materials on language endangerment, language revitalization, and Native
American languages.

CAIL's Opening Celebration on April 7 featured traditional Native
American songs, dances, stories, music and food. A young Shoshoni man
sang the "Handgame" song that an elderly woman taught him. Another
Native American played traditional songs on a wooden flute. A troupe of
four men performed the "Grass Dance" followed by a pair of them doing
"The Eagle Dance." One young man appeared solo doing "The Hoop Dance."

On their website www.cail.utah.edu CAIL states, "The Americas are home
to more than 180 language families - half of those recognized in the
world. Several whole language families have become extinct as all their
member languages have disappeared - others will soon follow."

The site goes on to say that CAIL is dedicated to working with community
members, where languages and cultures are endangered, towards linguistic
and cultural revitalization; urgent and ambitious research on the
endangered languages of Native America, and training students to
address scholarly and practical needs involving these languages and
their communities of speakers.

According to Dr. Campbell, funding for study and research comes
primarily from federal grants. When the grants end after two or three
year's time, the work ends.

"It's a really important topic," Campbell said.

He said that in the Americas there are only 20 of the 175 languages here
that are still active. This is because children are learning them.
In California, for example, there were 100 Native American languages on
record at the turn of the last century. Today there are only 50 and
they are considered endangered because no one under the age of 50
speaks them.

The goal of CAIL is to halt this trend and help preserve the languages
and the cultures that use them. In collaboration with the Smithsonian
National Museum of Natural History, CAIL is developing a publication
series and holding an annual conference dedicated to endangered
American Indian languages.

The current projects that CAIL is working on are "Preserving and
Enhancing Accessibility of Gosiute/Shoshoni Materials" and "Description
of Chorote, Nivacle and Kadiweu: Three of the Least Known and Most
Endangered Languages of the Chaco."

Under the direction of Dr. Campbell who speaks Mayan, Uto-Aztecan,
Mesoamerican and Matacoan, CAIL's staff includes Dr. Mauricio Mixco
(Yuman, Siouan and Shoshoni), Dr. David Iannucci (Numic) and Dr.
Marianna DiPaolo (Shoshoni). Dr. DiPaolo is also Chair of Linguistics
at the U who, at the opening of the Center, thanked Campbell for his
vision and very hard work toward making the Center happen.