33.2656, Media: Minority and Endangered Languages Database

Wed Aug 31 22:36:03 UTC 2022

LINGUIST List: Vol-33-2656. Wed Aug 31 2022. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 33.2656, Media: Minority and Endangered Languages Database

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Date: Wed, 31 Aug 2022 22:35:48
From: Jette Hansen Edwards [jhansen at cuhk.edu.hk]
Subject: Minority and Endangered Languages Database

Professor Jette G. Hansen Edwards of the Department of English at The Chinese
University of Hong Kong has created a website entitled Telling Stories:
Linguistic Diversity in Hong Kong. It is open access and available at:
https://www.eng.cuhk.edu.hk/ENGE-TellingStories/. 

Telling Stories: Linguistic Diversity in Hong Kong was created to showcase the
languages of Hong Kong, past and present. Hong Kong has always been a site of
vibrant multiculturalism and multilingualism; this website seeks to highlight
this linguistic and cultural diversity through a database of speech samples
and translations of the many languages and varieties that have been
historically spoken or are in use in present-day Hong Kong. The website was
developed to be easily accessible by researchers as well as by teachers and
students, and to be used to explore a range of linguistic issues including
linguistic diversity, minority languages, language endangerment, linguistic
discrimination, and world Englishes. 

Extensive historical and online document analyses were conducted in order to
identify the languages and varieties to include in the website; in addition,
potential speakers for the project were solicited through mass emails and
social media. A particular focus of this research was on the
languages/varieties spoken by ethnic minorities as well as endangered
languages/varieties in Hong Kong, such as Hakka, Waitau, Tanka. 

Despite the increasing public awareness of the need to preserve endangered
languages, as well as to provide more linguistic and cultural resources for
ethnic minorities and members of the deaf community in Hong Kong, there has as
yet been no attempt to create an archive which seeks not only to document and
preserve language diversity in Hong Kong, but also serves as an educational
tool and research resource for educators, schools, students, and academics.
This is the aim of the Telling Stories website, which is a database of spoken
language data that has also been transcribed into written text format from a
wide range of languages and varieties found in Hong Kong; these stories aim to
raise awareness of the rich cultural and linguistic heritage of Hong Kong, to
document and protect endangered languages, and to increase awareness of the
cultural and linguistic richness found among ethnic minorities and members of
the deaf community in Hong Kong. The incorporation of Hong Kong Sign Language
into the archive is also an importance means of creating visibility and
inclusiveness for members of this community. 

As a result of extensive research, 41 languages, comprising 14 varieties of
Chinese, 12 other Asian languages, 7 African languages, and 8 European
languages, were identified as having been historically or are currently spoken
in Hong Kong. In addition, 29 varieties of English were identified, including
13 varieties of Asian English, 6 varieties of African English, 8 varieties of
European Englishes, 1 variety of Australasian English and 1 variety of North
American English. We hope to expand the range of languages/varieties in the
future. 

The languages identified for the project include the indigenous languages of
Hong Kong, such as Hakka, Waitau, and Tanka, as well as other varieties of
Chinese such as Cantonese, Teochew, Putonghua, Hokkien

Linguistic Field(s): Language Documentation

Subject Language(s): Chinese, Min Zhong (czo)
                     Chinese, Pu-Xian (cpx)
                     Chinese, Wu (wuu)
                     Chinese, Xiang (hsn)
                     Chinese, Yue (yue)

Language Family(ies): Sino-Tibetan

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LINGUIST List: Vol-33-2656	
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