Langue des Signes Malienne: documentation and description
The Endangered Language Documentation Programme (ELDP) provides grants worldwide for the documentation of endangered languages and knowledge. Grantees create audiovisual collections with transcription and translations of endangered languages and practices. These collections are preserved and made freely available through the Endangered Languages Archive (ELAR).
African sign languages are severely under researched. This project aims at documenting the Langue des Signes Malienne (LSM). In the absence of deaf education, LSM has emerged naturally. Once deaf schools were established, LSM was initially used for instruction, but replaced by American Sign Language in 2001. Having virtually no child users, LSM is seriously endangered. During three field trips, a team consisting of three native LSM signers and the applicant, will record a diverse sample of texts, transcribing them in a time-aligned annotation system. In addition, the project will generate a video vocabulary and a basic grammar CD of LSM.
Primary investigator: Victoria Nyst
Project Details
Location: Mali, Western Africa, Mali, Africa, Guinea
Organiser(s):
Endangered Languages Documentation Programme
Project partner(s): Leiden University
Funder(s):
Arcadia
Funding received: £82,743.00
Commencement Date: 01/2003
Project Status: Completed
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