A quest to keep native tongues talking (fwd link)

[Phillip E Cash Cash]

A quest to keep native tongues talking

July 6, 2012
AUS

An innovative program is saving hundreds of Aboriginal languages, writes
Jacqueline Maley.

We can save a drowning man, we can save a colony of fairy penguins and we
can even, according to the government, at least, save an economy from
recession. But how do we save a dying language? Even harder, how do you
revive it?

The Miromaa Aboriginal Language and Technology Centre in Newcastle, which
received $341,150 in funding from the federal government this week, is
labouring to save millions of forgotten words, as well as the grammar,
syntax and pronunciation of the hundreds of Aboriginal languages that face
extinction if they are not recorded soon.

''The word 'miromaa' means 'saved','' says the centre's director, Daryn
McKenny. ''We've created a computer program which enables people to capture
their evidence of language - textual, audio, images and videos. We archive
it all.''

Read more:
http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/a-quest-to-keep-native-tongues-talking-20120705-21jt8.html#ixzz1zmTOXbzP
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