Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languages facts for kids
The Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languages (LTIEL) is a special group based in Salem, Oregon, USA. It's a non-profit organization, which means it helps people and doesn't make money for owners. The institute's main goal is to study and record languages that are in danger of disappearing. They also help communities keep their native languages alive and strong. The person who started this institute and is its director is Dr. Gregory D. S. Anderson.
One important project at the institute is teaching young people from different communities. These young people might not speak their community's traditional language. The institute trains them to record and learn from their elders who do speak these languages. This helps to create better records of the languages. It also helps young people feel proud of their heritage.
The institute has created more than 100 "living dictionaries" online. These are like online wordbooks that keep languages alive. From 2007 to 2013, the Living Tongues Institute worked with National Geographic’s Enduring Voices Project. Both Dr. Gregory D. S. Anderson and Dr. K David Harrison, who used to be the Director of Research, are National Geographic Fellows. They also work with other groups like La Academia de Lenguas Mayas de Guatemala and Ironbound Films: The Linguists.
Contents
What the Institute Does
Language Projects Around the World
The Living Tongues Institute works on many projects to save languages. They focus on different language families and specific languages.
- Altai-Sayan Language and Ethnography Project
- Ös/Middle Chulym Documentation Project
- Eleme/Baan Language Project
- Kallawaya Language Project
- Munda Languages Project
Language Hotspots Project
This project started in 2007. It was a big project with the National Geographic Society. They went on trips to places around the world where many languages are in danger. These places are called "language hotspots." Some of these places include Bolivia, East India, Oklahoma, Oregon, and Australia. You can learn more about this project here.
The Linguists Film Project
The institute also worked on a film called The Linguists. This movie helps people understand the importance of saving endangered languages.
Online Living Dictionary Projects
The institute creates online dictionaries for many languages. These dictionaries help people learn and use languages that might otherwise be forgotten. You can find these dictionaries at livingdictionaries.app.
Learn More
- Language death: When a language is no longer spoken.
- Language documentation: The process of recording and studying languages.
- Language isolate: A language that is not related to any other known language.
- Language revival: Efforts to bring a language back into use.
- List of Language Self-Study Programs
- List of revived languages
