<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body style="overflow-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;">I would add that if Musk/Trump are successful in their efforts (they aren’t stopped by the courts or the people), then red states such as Texas may follow their lead. Also, federal funding pervades government budgets at all levels (state, local etc.), as everyone here is about to discover. That gives the federal government leverage over state and local goverment activities and budget allocations.<div><br></div><div>Bill<br><div><br><blockquote type="cite"><div>On Feb 4, 2025, at 7:33 AM, Juergen Bohnemeyer via Lingtyp <lingtyp@listserv.linguistlist.org> wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><div><meta charset="UTF-8"><div class="WordSection1" style="page: WordSection1; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;"><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "CMU Serif";">Dear Jocelyn – Indeed, we are once again finding ourselves in “interesting”, read unprecedented and disturbing, times. Now, I may not be in the best position to respond to your query, but any immediate concern for the safety of language archives would only relate to things that are under the control of the federal government, such as the Library of Congress or the National Endowment for the Humanities. And as far as I know, these have not been archiving data and records from endangered languages.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "CMU Serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "CMU Serif";">I do, however, worry about the Smithsonian Institution in this regard. Other than the Smithsonian, the language archive that comes immediately to mind, AILLA at UT, is not under the purview of the federal government.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "CMU Serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "CMU Serif";">In any event, beyond the current situation, it seems indeed vitally important to connect the world’s digital language archives and create a system of mirrors in order to effectively decentralize the data and thereby make it less vulnerable to threats on any one site or even country. It’s my understanding that the people in charge of the archives are well aware of this and have begun to take steps. But it’s a long-haul project, based on my very incomplete understanding.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "CMU Serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "CMU Serif";">Best – Juergen<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "CMU Serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div><div><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Helvetica;">Juergen Bohnemeyer (He/Him)<br>Professor, Department of Linguistics<br>University at Buffalo <br><br>Office: 642 Baldy Hall, UB North Campus<br>Mailing address: 609 Baldy Hall, Buffalo, NY 14260 <br>Phone: (716) 645 0127 <br>Fax: (716) 645 3825<br>Email: </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><a href="mailto:jb77@buffalo.edu" title="mailto:jb77@buffalo.edu" style="color: blue; text-decoration: underline;"><span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Helvetica; color: rgb(0, 120, 212);">jb77@buffalo.edu</span></a></span><span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Helvetica;"><br>Web: </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.acsu.buffalo.edu/~jb77/" title="http://www.acsu.buffalo.edu/~jb77/" style="color: blue; text-decoration: underline;"><span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Helvetica; color: rgb(5, 99, 193);">http://www.acsu.buffalo.edu/~jb77/</span></a></span><span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Helvetica;"> <br><br></span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">Office hours Tu/Th 3:30-4:30pm in 642 Baldy or via Zoom (Meeting ID 585 520 2411; Passcode Hoorheh) </span><span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Helvetica;"><br><br>There’s A Crack In Everything - That’s How The Light Gets In <br>(Leonard Cohen) </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">-- <o:p></o:p></span></div></div></div><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif;"><span lang="DE" style="font-family: "CMU Serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif;"><span lang="DE" style="font-family: "CMU Serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div id="mail-editor-reference-message-container"><div><div><div style="border-width: 1pt medium medium; border-style: solid none none; border-color: rgb(181, 196, 223) currentcolor currentcolor; border-image: none; padding: 3pt 0in 0in;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 12pt 0.5in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif;"><b><span style="">From:<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></b><span style="">Lingtyp <<a href="mailto:lingtyp-bounces@listserv.linguistlist.org" style="color: blue; text-decoration: underline;">lingtyp-bounces@listserv.linguistlist.org</a>> on behalf of Jocelyn Aznar via Lingtyp <<a href="mailto:lingtyp@listserv.linguistlist.org" style="color: blue; text-decoration: underline;">lingtyp@listserv.linguistlist.org</a>><br><b>Date:<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></b>Tuesday, February 4, 2025 at 05:02<br><b>To:<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></b><a href="mailto:lingtyp@listserv.linguistlist.org" style="color: blue; text-decoration: underline;">lingtyp@listserv.linguistlist.org</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><<a href="mailto:lingtyp@listserv.linguistlist.org" style="color: blue; text-decoration: underline;">lingtyp@listserv.linguistlist.org</a>><br><b>Subject:<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></b>[Lingtyp] Concerns about U.S. policies and linguistic archives<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Dear colleagues,<br><br>I know this list is primarily meant for discussing ideas and<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><br>observations related to linguistic typology, rather than politics.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><br>However, current U.S. policies regarding scientific data have led me to<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><br>wonder whether these policies might affect the fields of linguistics and<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><br>humanities.<br><br>When I heard about data related to ecology and the environment being<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><br>discarded, I immediately worried the same could happen to linguistic<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><br>archives and datasets. But maybe it is just me, dear colleagues working<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><br>in the US, what do you think? Could this happen as well to archives<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><br>related to linguistics and humanities?<br><br>I believe that if we address this issue proactively, we’ll be better<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><br>placed to preserve more data should the need arise. For instance, we<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><br>could check whether the existing infrastructure outside of the US, ELAR,<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><br>HumaNum/Ortolang, Pangloss, Paradisec, etc, would be able to handle or<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><br>help to face such a crisis? or whether we should consider setting up<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><br>some sort of emergency server so that researchers can transfer data at<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><br>risk of being lost?<br><br>One possible strategy would be to prepare a brief manual (probably as a<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><br>webpage), after discussing with each institution of course, describing<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><br>which archives outside the U.S. could accept data from an archive from<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><br>the US, in which format, what kind of data would be accepted, etc. Then,<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><br>if needed, U.S based researchers could formulate a plan to safeguard<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><br>their data. By doing that, we could also identify gaps in current<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><br>coverage and, if necessary, establish an emergency archive or server to<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><br>fill those gaps.<br><br>Best regards,<br>Jocelyn Aznar<br><br>¹ I’m of course also concerned about data from other fields, though I<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><br>feel more competent discussing linguistic data. Still, if we build an<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><br>infrastructure for linguistic data from the U.S., it might be possible<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><br>to scale it up for other disciplines as well.<br>_______________________________________________<br>Lingtyp mailing list<br><a href="mailto:Lingtyp@listserv.linguistlist.org" style="color: blue; text-decoration: underline;">Lingtyp@listserv.linguistlist.org</a><br><a href="https://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/lingtyp" style="color: blue; text-decoration: underline;">https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Flistserv.linguistlist.org%2Fcgi-bin%2Fmailman%2Flistinfo%2Flingtyp&data=05%7C02%7Cjb77%40buffalo.edu%7C8ad63c8d02e04bd681a208dd4502fde3%7C96464a8af8ed40b199e25f6b50a20250%7C0%7C0%7C638742601354965905%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=DJ%2Fl9ABlxi%2BjR%2B8C9PDqzDpGS5vkWcUnOZy6OWubBuI%3D&reserved=0</a><o:p></o:p></span></div></div></div></div></div></div><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none; float: none; display: inline !important;">_______________________________________________</span><br style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none; float: none; display: inline !important;">Lingtyp mailing list</span><br style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;"><a href="mailto:Lingtyp@listserv.linguistlist.org" style="color: blue; text-decoration: underline; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;">Lingtyp@listserv.linguistlist.org</a><br style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;"><a href="https://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/lingtyp" style="color: blue; text-decoration: underline; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;">https://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/lingtyp</a><br style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;"></div></blockquote></div><br></div></body></html>