Documentation and Description of Siriono, a highly endangered language of Bolivia

The Endangered Language Documentation Programme (ELDP) provides grants worldwide to for the linguistic documentation of endangered language and knowledge. Grantees create multimedia collection of endangered languages. These collections are preserved and made freely available through the Endangered Languages Archive (ELAR) housed at the library of SOAS University of London.

This project aims at describing and documenting Siriono (Tupi-Guarani family), an underdescribed and endangered language of lowlands Bolivia. In a small area lived nearly thousand Siriono with less a dozen fluent speakers of Siriono and around forty occasional speakers. The language is threatened by the use of the national language, Spanish, despite the fact Siriono is either an official language. The Siriono community express a need for linguistic and pedagogical material to help Siriono's transmission to the next generations. This study will contribute to our understanding of how language convergence manifests in areas of intense language-contact. Primary investigator: Noé Gasparini

Project Details


Location: Bolivia, South America, Americas Organiser(s): Endangered Languages Documentation Programme Project partner(s): CNRS Funder(s): Arcadia Funding received: £14,645.00 Commencement Date: 01/2008 Project Status: Active
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