Research Guides
- University of Washington Libraries
- Library Guides
- UW Libraries
- Indigenous Studies
- Indigenous Languages
Indigenous Studies: Indigenous Languages
Selected eBooks
Language Profiles
These sources provide brief descriptions of languages including region and number of speakers. Some include language recordings and bibliographies.
- Ethnologue: Languages of the World Info on 7,100 living languages and includes statistical summaries, citations & maps
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- Endangered Languages Project (ELCat) "The Endangered Languages Project puts technology at the service of the organizations and individuals working to confront the language endangerment by documenting, preserving and teaching them. Through this website, users can not only access the most up to date and comprehensive information on endangered languages as well as language resources being provided by partners, but also play an active role in putting their languages online by submitting information or samples in the form of text, audio or video files."
- Glottolog "Glottolog provides a comprehensive catalogue of the world's languages, language families and dialects."
- Sorosoro France based to create a "repository of knowledge about the languages and cultures that are threatened with extinction." English site is less comprehensive
Language Archives
- Archive of the Indigenous Languages of Latin America "AILLA is a digital language archive of recordings, texts, and other multimedia materials in and about the indigenous languages of Latin America." Registration required.
- Digital Media Arcade "The Digital Media Archive at the University of Chicago holds some 2,100 language collections across 270 languages." Apply for research access.
- Endangered Languages Archive ELAR "is a digital repository for preserving multimedia collections of endangered languages from all over the world, making them available for future generations."
- Enduring Voices & Endangered Languages Videos of hundreds of native speakers of endangered languages, also captures music and traditional culture. Project of National Geographic Society & Living Tongues Institute.
- Living Archive of Aboriginal Languages "A digital archive of endangered literature in Australian Indigenous languages of the Northern Territory" containing nearly 4000 books in 50 languages from 40 communities."
- Living Dictionaries "Living Dictionaries are mobile-friendly web tools that support endangered, under-represented and diasporic languages. Developed by the Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languages"
- PALABRA Indigenous Voices Focus on Central & South American oral and written poetry and literature in Indigenous languages (Mapuche, Mayan, Nahuatl, Quechua & Zapotec)
- PARADISEC Catalog Pacific and Regional Archive for Digital Sources in Endangered Cultures; registration required to access digitized files
- Rosetta Project--Texts 6000+ printed texts in various languages, many of them translated bibles and grammars.
- Talking Dictionaries Dictionaries of 200+ endangered languages with audio
Organizations
- Australian Society for Indigenous Languages "AuSIL is committed to serving indigenous language communities in Australia and the Timor region by means of linguistic research and documentation, translation, training, and the development of language resources."
- Endangered Languages Alliance Organization documenting "Indigenous, minority, and endangered languages, supporting linguistic diversity in New York City and beyond."
- First Voices Canada-focused. "Web-based tools and services designed to support Aboriginal people engaged in language archiving, language teaching & culture revitalization."
- Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languages "Our mission is to ensure language survival for generations to come. We support speakers who are safeguarding their languages from extinction through activism, education, and technology. Our research teams document endangered languages and cultural practices, publish scientific studies, run digital training workshops to empower language activists, and collaborate with communities to create language resources that will serve as a basis for language revitalization."
- OLAC: Open Language Archives Community An international partnership creating a virtual library of language resources
- Our Mother Tongues Focus on 12 U.S. based indigenous languages.
UNESCO Classification of Endangered Languages
UNESCO created a classification system for endangered languages, most of them indigenous, as part of their Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger. The classification system ranks languages by degree of endangerment. See report, Language vitality and endangerment, for more information and "Endangered languages: the full list" (The Guardian, 2011).
Vulnerable - most children speak the language, but it may be restricted to certain domains (e.g., home)
Definitely endangered - children no longer learn the language as a 'mother tongue' in the home
Severely endangered - language is spoken by grandparents and older generations; while the parent generation may understand it, they do not speak it to children or among themselves
Critically endangered - the youngest speakers are grandparents and older, and they speak the language partially and infrequently
Extinct - there are no speakers left
Search Terminology for Books
Books on indigenous languages can be found in UW Libraries Search by using a variety of keywords and terms, however for a more comprehensive search you may want to also include designated Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) as search terms. Most U.S. libraries use this official terminology to describe the content of a book. You will usually need to use a variety of subject headings including broad terms such as endangered languages, as well as narrower terms such as the names of specific languages (e.g., Nhanda language) and peoples (e.g., Ainu). The term, "indigenous languages" is not an official subject heading though the phrase is used often in the titles of books and book chapters.
| Examples of broader Library of Congress Subject Headings. These subject headings can be followed by specific places (e.g., australia, latin america, etc.) | To find dictionaries, grammars and other language related books for a specific language, search for the name of the language (e.g., Maori language, Mayan languages) followed by terms such as: |
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