Documentation of urgently endangered Tupian languages (Brazil)

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 the study and documentation of five of the most urgently endangered native languages of Brazil, which have no other possibility for documentation. These languages are: Mondé, Puruborá, Mekens, Ayuru, and Xipaya. These five languages belong to the lesser-known branches of the Tupi family. Only two have received prior intensive research and none has adequate documentation available. The general objectives are: to salvage the maximum information about the language and about the traditional culture expressed through the language; for the community and for science, making this information widely available while respecting the wishes and rights of the native communities. An ethnographic consultant is included to help collect cultural information. Academic results will include, where feasible, reference grammars, dictionaries, collections of texts, and extensive and varied recordings which will be digitalized and, to the extent which this is possible, annotated using techniques similar to those of the DOBES documentation project. Primary investigator: Dennis Moore

Project Details


Location: Brazil, South America, Brazil, Americas, United States of America Organiser(s): Endangered Languages Documentation Programme Project partner(s): Museu Paraense Emilio Goeldi Funder(s): Arcadia Funding received: £57,840.00 Commencement Date: 01/1999
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