Documentation of Zauzou, an endangered language in China

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.

The major goal of this project is to document the language of Zauzou — a Lolo-Burmese language spoken in Southwestern China. Zauzou is an endangered language (Bradley, 2007) spoken by approximately 2100 members of the Nu nationality. Among those speakers, 1800 live on the banks of Lancang River, Lanping Country,Yunnan province in mainland of China. Most Zauzou speakers are older bilingual adults who also speak Mandarin, Bai, Lisu, etc. There are two major dialects — Guoli and Jiangmo Dialect. About 70 percent of Zauzou speakers speak the second dialect. This project documents a variety of recordings, including conversations, narratives and expository texts. Primary investigator: Yu Li

Project Details


Location: China, China, Mexico, China, Central America, Eastern Asia, Asia, Americas Organiser(s): Endangered Languages Documentation Programme Project partner(s): State University of New York at Buffalo Funder(s): Arcadia Funding received: £36,664.00 Commencement Date: 01/2013 Project Status: Active
Project owner? Update this project



Related Projects

Archive Collage

Understanding Mandate Palestine through the publications and archive of the British School of Archaeology in Jerusalem

This project digitised 33000 pages of rare books (1619-1950) and archives (1919-1950) from the British School of Archaeology in Jerusalem, preserving endangered materials on M…

Explore project
EAP1402 Pub003

19th-century documents from the Peruvian asylum el Manicomio del Cercado

The Victor Larco Herrera Hospital in the centre of Lima, Peru, was closed in 1917. Its archives, dating back to 1859, consist of medical documentation as well as administrativ…

Explore project
EAP1306 Silk Museum

The Caucasian Silk Circle: Digitising Photo Collection of the State Silk Museum in Georgia

The State Silk Museum of Georgia holds the only documentary evidence of the practice of sericulture in the 19th century. Taken during expeditions of the Caucasian Sericulture …

Explore project