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What is the context of this research?

Linguists believe that 'all languages are equal'. Thus endangered languages are a serious concern since culture, history, and ethnicity are expressed through speech. Indicators of endangerment include decline in the number of speakers and social settings of practice.

Current approaches deal primarily with creating a 'standard' version of the dialects of an endangered language, however this approach has generally not been successful.

Not only do we hope to build support structures for the maintenance and propagation of Salasaca Kichwa, but also purpose to design an approach to language revitalization at the dialectal level in order to enable future generations of declining languages to embrace and practice their rich linguistic and cultural identities.





What is the significance of this project?

Language is the cornerstone of identity and culture. What is lost with the extinction of a language is not only potentially valuable scientific knowledge, but the vitality of a culture and ethnic identity of the speakers.



With a declining number of speakers (14,500 as of 2000, and less than 12,000 as of 2008 and number continues to decrease), it is imperative to many indigenous speakers of Salasaca Kichwa that their oral history, folklore and poetry be preserved.



A further implication of this project is to document and publish a current phonetic/phonological account of Salasaca Kichwa for 2 reasons: none exists, and this particular dialect does not pattern with others, which could give insight into significant areas of dialectology.

What are the goals of the project?

While in Ecuador we purpose to accomplish three goals:

1. construct a 'phonemic inventory' by soliciting samples of natural speech from native speakers. This will be published for research use and archived for historical and cultural institutions in Ecuador.

2. conduct interviews and surveys to gather information about Salasacans' attitudes and behaviors concerning their language. This data will be used to contribute to the body of knowledge concerning methods used by language planners and community leaders to save languages from decline and disappearance.

3. document and archive indigenous material. We will ask Salasacans to share narratives, folklore, historical accounts, and other cultural knowledge on video that will be contributed to cultural and educational institutions in Ecuador.