Saving indigenous languages (fwd link)

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BOLIVIA / MEXICO

Saving indigenous languages
7/21/2011	

Activists and academics seek to preserve native tongues and culture.

Academics and activists in Bolivia and Mexico in July took steps to
preserve indigenous languages whose survival is threatened of dying
out with more use of Spanish.

The Autonomous University of Mexico has launched an audio library of
the 300 indigenous languages and dialects spoken in Mexico.

Samuel Herrera, who is heading the university´s Linguistic Laboratory
at the Institute for Anthropological Research, said some of the
languages are only spoken by two or three people. The work will
include both audio and video compilations, with the aim of providing
not just linguistic, but historical and anthropological background
into the indigenous groups as well.

Access full article below:
http://lapress.org/articles.asp?art=6430