The Endangered Languages Archive (ELAR) at SOAS reaches an important milestone this week when our 100th deposit goes online. We will be working on a further 10 deposits and doing additional curation work on those currently online over the next two months. ELAR now has 4 terabytes (4,000 gigabytes — double that I reported in … Read more
Alongside endangered languages and cultures it is starting to look like Australia may also have endangered linguists and linguistics. According to press reports (see also here) La Trobe University in Victoria, Australia, plans to stop teaching linguistics at the undergraduate level, resulting in 4 staff positions being what the consultation document calls “surplus to our … Read more
This post recaps the May meeting of Linguistics in the Pub, whose topic was More than just being there? The place of participant observation in linguistic fieldwork. Two weeks ago at Linguistics in the Pub, we discussed an issue that many linguists never really consider, but which is central to many anthropologists’ work: the role … Read more
Most of the UK seems to have been distracted over the past few weeks (and especially over the four-day long weekend that is just now drawing to an end) by the celebrations surrounding the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II. Not so the hard working team at the Endangered Languages Archive (ELAR) at SOAS who … Read more
A major motivation for PARADISEC has been locating and digitising analog recordings before they are lost. As can be seen from various posts to this blog reporting on the progress of the collection (for 2006, for 2007, for 2008, and for 2011) we have steadily accessioned collections that would otherwise have become unplayable. We have … Read more
If you are interested in Australian Aboriginal languages you might like to take at look at the growing number of collections of audio, video and text materials that are now available in the ELAR archive. Currently there are six online collections (comprising almost 900 file bundles) for languages from northern Australia, with one more from … Read more
Road construction sometimes means new names, new opportunities.. The Kempsey bypass project includes a bridge over the Macleay River and Floodplain which, at 2 kilometres long on completion, will be the longest bridge in Australia. So Yapang Gurraarrbang Gayandigayigu Very Long Track to the Other Side…. This is the neat name which, so Amanda Lissarague … Read more
To celebrate Endangered Languages Week at SOAS we have cut the price of all issues of Language Documentation and Description by 20% until the end of May (copies now GBP 10, including postage). You can place orders through our online store. Also, all Foundation for Endangered Languages books are now 25% off. Orders may be … Read more
With the upgrade to a new catalogue system just around the corner, PARADISEC staff are busily fine-tuning metadata within existing collections whilst attending to business as usual and accessioning recordings and documents representing a wide range of languages. Take a glimpse of our latest additions and the regions they originate from below to get a … Read more
As part of Endangered Languages Week at SOAS some of our postgraduate students have prepared a series of podcasts about a range of topics that are now available from SOAS online radio. They include Facts for newbies, an introduction to endangered languages and their study. Launch of the Language Landscape website that describes a project … Read more
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