<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><span id="docs-internal-guid-0c767179-7fff-ff01-f66d-d30f28eb32b8" class=""><p dir="ltr" style="text-align: left; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 12pt;" class="">Dear colleagues:</p><div class="">I hope this message finds you safe and healthy. Although it is not directly related to a typological discussion, I wanted to share with you a campaign that is being organized by a group of linguists working on Peruvian Indigenous languages (including myself). These are very difficult times for everyone, but indigenous people in the Amazon are particularly vulnerable. Some of them are the last speakers of their beautiful languages. This campaign attempts to diminish the negative effects of the pandemic on these speakers by providing them with access to food and medicines.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Please, feel free to share this information with other colleagues, friends, nets, etc. </div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Thanks!</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Best regards,</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Roberto</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align: center;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:12pt;" class=""><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-weight: 700; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" class="">Urgent: Support for speakers of highly endangered languages</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:12pt;margin-bottom:12pt;" class=""><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" class="">Dear colleagues,</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:12pt;margin-bottom:12pt;" class=""><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" class="">The Amazon basin in South America has been hard-hit by the Covid-19 health and economic crisis. Among the most severely impacted are indigenous peoples, particularly the elderly. These elders are often among the last speakers of highly endangered languages, and are the bearers of knowledge of ecology, cosmology, and traditions that are also at risk of being lost.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:12pt;margin-bottom:12pt;" class=""><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" class="">We write to you as a team of linguists who work with indigenous language communities across the Peruvian Amazon. As linguists, we rely on the linguistic knowledge of speakers to carry out our research, and data from indigenous languages has had a powerful impact on our understanding of human language and cognition. Now, these elderly speakers, along with the languages they keep, need our support to survive the global pandemic.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:12pt;margin-bottom:12pt;" class=""><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" class="">In response to this ongoing crisis, we have partnered with Cabeceras Aid Project, a registered non-profit, to collect support for elderly speakers of the Omagua, Resígaro, Iskonawa, Taushiro and Chamicuro languages in the Peruvian Amazon. Please visit the campaign page</span><span style="text-decoration: none; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" class=""><a href="https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-last-speakers-of-peruvian-languagescovid19" style="text-decoration:none;" class=""> </a></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;" class="">to donate now to help these indigenous knowledge bearers survive this unprecedented crisis.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:12pt;margin-bottom:12pt;" class=""><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" class=""><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Lato, Trebuchet, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; white-space: pre; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class=""><a href="https://gf.me/u/yp5ih5" class="">https://gf.me/u/yp5ih5</a></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:12pt;margin-bottom:12pt;" class=""><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" class="">Thank you,</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:12pt;margin-bottom:12pt;" class=""><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" class="">Roberto Zariquiey</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:12pt;margin-bottom:12pt;" class=""><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" class="">Pilar Valenzuela</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:12pt;margin-bottom:12pt;" class=""><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" class="">Liliana Sanchez</span></p><br class=""><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:12pt;margin-bottom:12pt;" class=""><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" class="">Queridos colegas,</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:12pt;margin-bottom:12pt;" class=""><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" class="">La Amazonía viene siendo profundamente afectada por la crisis económica y sanitaria asociada al Covid-19. Entre los más afectados en este contexto sin precedentes se encuentran los pueblos indígenas y en particular los ancianos. Estos ancianos se encuentran a menudo entre los últimos hablantes de lenguas en peligro de extinción y son verdaderos sabios que guardan conocimientos, tradiciones y cosmovisiones que podrían perderse del todo.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:12pt;margin-bottom:12pt;" class=""><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" class="">Escribimos en representación de un equipo de lingüistas que trabajan con comunidades en la Amazonía peruana. Como lingüistas, sabemos de primera mano que el conocimiento lingüístico de los miembros de estas comunidades es fundamental para llevar a cabo nuestra investigación. Sabemos también que los datos de las lenguas indígenas amazónicas han tenido un impacto poderoso en nuestra comprensión del lenguaje y la cognición humana. Ahora, estos hablantes de edad avanzada, en situación de profunda marginación, junto con los idiomas que conservan, necesitan nuestro apoyo para sobrevivir a la pandemia mundial.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:12pt;margin-bottom:12pt;" class=""><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" class="">En respuesta a esta crisis actual, nos hemos asociado con Cabeceras Aid Project, una organización sin fines de lucro registrada, para recolectar apoyo para personas de edad avanzada que hablan lenguas indígenas en la Amazonía peruana. Los invitamos a visitar la página de la campaña para donar ahora y ayudar a estos portadores de conocimientos indígenas a sobrevivir a esta crisis sin precedentes.</span></p><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><span style="caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Lato, Trebuchet, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; orphans: 2; white-space: pre; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class=""><a href="https://gf.me/u/yp5ih5" class="">https://gf.me/u/yp5ih5</a></span></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:12pt;margin-bottom:12pt;" class=""><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" class="">Muchas gracias,</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:12pt;margin-bottom:12pt;" class=""><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" class="">Roberto Zariquiey</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:12pt;margin-bottom:12pt;" class=""><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" class="">Pilar Valenzuela</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:12pt;margin-bottom:12pt;" class=""><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" class="">Liliana Sánchez</span></p><br class=""></span></body></html>