British Columbian Language Funding

Last week, the Ministry of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation of British Columbia announced funding in the amount of $1.2 million to support language and culture in the westernmost province of Canada.

According to the press release, $500,000 or just over 40% of that funding will come from the New Relationship Trust (NRT), a non-profit organization supporting First Nation communities in areas such as education language and economic development. The remaining amount will come from the province itself, the Aboriginal Head Start Association of BC (AHABC), and the First Peoples’ Heritage, Language and Culture Council (FPHLCC).

In addition to supporting community language/culture authorities, the funding will assist with language/culture camps, master-apprentice programs, and pre-school immersion programs.

The FPHLCC has put together a useful online Language Toolkit to assist people wanting to learn an endangered language, type in it, or put together a revitalization program. It also includes further links to funding sources, stories for children, and documents such as sample consent forms useful for language research programs.

The Fifth Celtic Language

According to Wikipedia, Charles Leland referred to the language Shelta as the fifth Celtic language, though with at least Gaeilge (Irish), Gàidhlig (Scottish Gaelic), Gaelg (Manx); Brezhoneg (Breton), Kernowek (Cornish) and Cymraeg (Welsh), there are certainly more than five.

The speakers of Shelta are known as Travellers, a people also commonly known by the derogatory term “Tinker” because of the tin work they are known for.

Richard Waters has a Website dedicated to the Travellers in the US, called Travellers’ Rest. This site includes English > US Shelta and US Shelta > English dictionaries as well as links, music, essays and notes about some of the controversies surrounding the Travellers.

Although related to Gaeilge, the syntax is largely based on English.

The Shelta vocabulary provided in R. A. Stewart Macalister’s 1937 The Secret Languages of Ireland can be found at Shelta Vocabulary.

Two other nomadic groups are the Romani (or Roma) and Sanka.

MALC to Include Endangered Languages Session

Although not announced yet on the Webpage, I have received a note saying the Mid-America Linguistics Conference will be hosting a special session on endangered languages.

The conference will be held by the Linguistics Department (currently having their 50th year anniversary) at the University of Kansas from October 26-28. The deadline for papers and posters is August 1.

Stealing Linguistic Property

Linguists sometimes say that they have a better reputation than anthropologists because of the (mainly) former practice of taking cultural property for research or display, sometimes without permission. Nevertheless, linguists are not immune from such unsavory practices, and have also been known to hoard cassette recordings and other cultural materials.

One such case is the failure to credit a native speaker for assistance, mentioned in the article “Saving a language” in the Sioux City Journal. An Omaha speaker (not named) provided pronunciation and editing help to a lexicographer of Omaha and then found that her name was not mentioned in the credits when the dictionary was published. It is common courtesy to thank people who provide support as this woman did, and not providing thanks leads to bad feelings that can cause friction and problems later on.

From the article, it does not sound like anything special was expected, just a note of credit, something easy enough to note in a forward to a dictionary. Some linguists also list language sources as co-authors on papers, which seems like a fair way to provide the recognition of the importance of language speakers.

For more Omaha resources, including a beginning dictionary and glossed texts, see Omaha Language Curriculum Development. Further information about Omaha including other resources is available at Omaha-Ponca.

Boni - Forgotten People of Lamu

Lamu Town is historic, the oldest Swahili settlement town founded perhaps around the fourteenth century. It was one of many trading locations along East Africa and survived invasion by the Portuguese in the sixteenth century. A mix of African, Arab, European, Indian and other influences, it has a unique history and is on the World Heritage List.

The Boni people of Lamu Island, however, are languishing. According to the article “The forgotten people of Lamu“, the Boni are on the verge of extinction, inhabiting only five locations in small numbers.

According to the article, they speak Hargan, a name not recognized in the Ethnologue. This may be the language Boni or a dialect of it.

Daniel Stiles has written an article about the Boni, which appear to be the same people.