#Language Revitalization

[linguist-breakaribecca]

“Grandma’s House is not like a drop-off daycare or an immersion school where only the children learn. Through a grant from the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota Foundation, parents get paid to learn alongside and speak with their children in Ojibwe five hours a day, four days a week.

…

‘Learning Ojibwe in college and pursuing learning the language and teaching the language, I hadn't really thought about babies speaking it as their first language,’ Erdrich said.

‘It seemed like this impossible thing because of how much work it would be, how hard it would be to have a whole community and other babies to be speaking Ojibwe, but it's happening! And it's amazing because it's the peer language here so the kids are speaking Ojibwe to each other,’ she said.

…Grandma’s House is not like other college language programs. Learning a Native language in an academic setting is beneficial for language revitalization, but academic learning does not usually include learning the traditions, heritage or spirit within a Native community.

…

Although it’s common to refer to a language no longer commonly spoken as a ‘dead language,’ some people in the language revitalization movement instead refer to them as ‘asleep.’ The idea is that sleeping languages can be awakened through family and community efforts.

Waking up Native languages can also bring intergenerational healing.”

[useless-catalanfacts]

I have added English subtitles to this video posted by Helena Sotoca on Instagram. She's from Madrid (Spain) but has been living in Catalonia for 7 years. As she explained in another video, she didn't learn any Catalan the first 3 years she lived here, but then realised how she was imposing Spanish on her group of Catalan friends and how important it was for her friends to keep their language, so she learned it. She is very happy about this decision which has allowed her to integrate more in Catalan society and culture.

In this video, she gives her personal opinion on why languages are not only "a way to understand each other". This sentence is something that we speakers of discriminated languages have to hear all the time (in fact, I was reminded of this video a few days ago because @beautiful-basque-country got that comment). Many times, they'll say: "why are you so annoying about wanting to be able to speak your language? A language is only a tool to understand each other, so if you speak both [the local language and the imperial language], why not just always speak [the imperial language]?".

This mindset is what leads to language extermination. First of all, because it assumes that our languages are less worthy of existence and thus that the language's community is less worthy of existence. If I stop speaking my language, I stop being a part of me. If all my culture stops speaking our language, we stop existing. Language is deeply tied to culture, it's through language that we think and transmit our worldview, and there are many aspects of our culture and our landscape that we can only describe in our language, because only we have the specific words to describe it or because the translation loses nuance, context, and connotations. Remove language, and the rest of the culture will soon follow.

Secondly, it erases the reason why we speak the state's language, which is usually because of imposition through violence, and justifies this imposition because the imperial violence of the past that made the imperial language more widely spoken is now the reason why speakers of the imperial language deserve more rights than those who suffered the imposition.

But besides these more social reasons, I like how Helena explains her personal relation to the language in this video. She also shows us one of the reasons why it's so important to promote discriminated languages to be used in public (and not only hidden at home): when you meet someone speaking a language, you form a bond with them in that language and it can be difficult to change. Speakers of minoritized languages often meet each other in contexts in which they're socially pressured to speak the state's language, and so we find the situation where a group of friends who are all native speakers of the minoritized language will form a bond in the state's language. Thus, slowly, because of the state's language imposition in the public sphere (this is what the "speak the state language if there's even 1 person who might not speak the local language! Languages are only a tool for communication!" mindset pushes us to), the local language gets pushed aside more and more, until we can't have a normal life in it and the state's language imposition becomes absolute, and the local language dies, taking with it its culture, history, and connection to the land and ancestors.

With some work, it can be reversed. I've explained this before but I'll say it again because it's relevant. My parents met in Spanish, because they met in high school and back then speaking Catalan in schools was strictly forbidden and punished. They were speaking in Spanish even when they started dating, but they realised how absurd it was that two native Catalan speakers spoke Spanish to each other and how it was a result of Francoist policy. They decided they don't want Francoism to infiltrate our personal lives, so they made the effort and switched. Maintaining the language of their surroundings, their culture, their land, they became even closer. And, thanks to their decision, when I was born I had the luck of being a native speaker of the language too, because it's what we've always spoken at home. But they did it because they had a political antifascist conscience, many people don't think much about it and just go with what is easier. If they had done that, the language would have lost them and also me. Multiply this for how many people meet each other in settings where social pressure or social rules promote speaking the imperial language instead of the local one that is closer to their hearts.

So no, a language is not only a tool to understand each other. It's also what allows us to speak according to our own understanding of the world (instead of assimilating into another's worldview), it gives meaning to our surroundings (both nature, the names we give to places, etc), every word is an unbroken chain with all of those who came before us, it allows us to understand our ancestors whether that be through their writing or songs they passed down or legends, it's an integral part of the human relations we establish, and so much more. Every language is worth everything. Every language has the right to exist and to thrive.

[no-passaran]

Are you 18-35 years old and an activist or academic from a minoritized or minority language? This might interest you!

(And even if you don't meet the criteria but are interested in participating in another way, the organizers still encourage you to write to them!)

Website link:

[allthecanadianpolitics]

Decades after being punished in a residential school for speaking his own language, Sol Mamakwa will hold the powerful to account at Ontario's legislature in the very same language past governments tried to bury. On Tuesday, Mamakwa, the only First Nation legislator at Queen's Park, will rise in the legislative chamber — with his mother, sister, brothers, friends and elders watching from the gallery — and ask a question in Anishininiimowin, known in English as Oji-Cree. For the first time in its history, the Ontario legislature will allow, interpret and transcribe a language other than English and French. It will also be a birthday gift to his mom, Kezia Mamakwa, who turns 79 that day, and a nod to his late father, Jerry Mamakwa. "Language is nationhood, language is identity, language is where history comes from and language is me and my people," Sol Mamakwa, a 53-year-old NDP legislator, said in an interview. "It's important because there's so many of us who are losing our languages. I think it's a step toward reconciliation and a step toward reviving our languages."

Continue Reading.

Tagging: @newsfromstolenland

[reasonsforhope]

Interior Department Announces New Guidance to Honor and Elevate Hawaiian Language

"In commemoration of Mahina ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi, or Hawaiian Language Month, and in recognition of its unique relationship with the Native Hawaiian Community, the Department of the Interior today announced new guidance on the use of the Hawaiian language.  

A comprehensive new Departmental Manual chapter underscores the Department’s commitment to further integrating Indigenous Knowledge and cultural practices into conservation stewardship.  

“Prioritizing the preservation of the Hawaiian language and culture and elevating Indigenous Knowledge is central to the Biden-Harris administration's work to meet the unique needs of the Native Hawaiian Community,” said Secretary Deb Haaland. “As we deploy historic resources to Hawaiʻi from President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, the Interior Department is committed to ensuring our internal policies and communications use accurate language and data."  

Department bureaus and offices that engage in communication with the Native Hawaiian Community or produce documentation addressing places, resources, actions or interests in Hawaiʻi will use the new guidance on ‘ōlelo Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian language) for various identifications and references, including flora and fauna, cultural sites, geographic place names, and government units within the state.  The guidance recognizes the evolving nature of ‘ōlelo Hawaiʻi and acknowledges the absence of a single authoritative source. While the Hawaiian Dictionary (Pukui & Elbert 2003) is designated as the baseline standard for non-geographic words and place names, Department bureaus and offices are encouraged to consult other standard works, as well as the Board on Geographic Names database.  

Developed collaboratively and informed by ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi practitioners, instructors and advocates, the new guidance emerged from virtual consultation sessions and public comment in 2023 with the Native Hawaiian Community. 

The new guidance aligns with the Biden-Harris administration’s commitment to strengthening relationships with the Native Hawaiian Community through efforts such as the Kapapahuliau Climate Resilience Program and Hawaiian Forest Bird Keystone Initiative. During her trip to Hawaiʻi in June, Secretary Haaland emphasized recognizing and including Indigenous Knowledge, promoting co-stewardship, protecting sacred sites, and recommitting to meaningful and robust consultation with the Native Hawaiian Community."

-via US Department of the Interior press release, February 1, 2024

--

Note: I'm an editor so I have no idea whether this comes off like as big a deal as it potentially is. But it is potentially going to establish and massively accelerate the adoption of correctly written Native Hawaiian language, as determined by Native Hawaiians.

Basically US government communications, documentations, and "style guides" (sets of rules to follow about how to write/format/publish something, etc.) can be incredibly influential, especially for topics where there isn't much other official guidance. This rule means that all government documents that mention Hawai'i, places in Hawai'i, Hawaiian plants and animals, etc. will have to be written the way Native Hawaiians say it should be written, and the correct way of writing Hawaiian conveys a lot more information about how the words are pronounced, too, which could spread correct pronunciations more widely.

It also means that, as far as the US government is concerned, this is The Correct Way to Write the Hawaiian Language. Which, as an editor who just read the guidance document, is super important. That's because you need the 'okina (' in words) and kahakō in order to tell apart sizeable sets of different words, because Hawaiian uses so many fewer consonants, they need more of other types of different sounds.

And the US government official policy on how to write Hawaiian is exactly what editors, publishers, newspapers, and magazines are going to look at, sooner or later, because it's what style guides are looking at. Style guides are the official various sets of rules that books/publications follow; they're also incredibly detailed - the one used for almost all book publishing, for example, the Chicago Manual of Style (CMoS), is over a thousand pages long.

One of the things that CMoS does is tell you the basic rules of and what specialist further sources they think you should use for writing different languages. They have a whole chapter dedicated to this. It's not that impressive on non-European languages yet, but we're due for a new edition (the 18th) of CMoS in the next oh two to four years, probably? Actually numbering wise they'd be due for one this year, except presumably they would've announced it by now if that was the case.

I'm expecting one of the biggest revisions to the 18th edition to add much more comprehensive guidance on non-Western languages. Considering how far we've come since 2017, when the last one was released, I'll be judging the shit out of them if they do otherwise. (And CMoS actually keep with the times decently enough.)

Which means, as long as there's at least a year or two for these new rules/spellings/orthographies to establish themselves before the next edition comes out, it's likely that just about every (legit) publisher will start using the new rules/spellings/orthographies.

And of course, it would expand much further from there.

[canisvesperus]

The demo is free! Check it out and consider donating!

[hanaflorbloom]

i told my coworker i was starting to learn Irish and he was like "why? at least learn a cool language like latin". O_O like...huh?

aside from the fact that all languages are cool in their own right, saying that about a language that has been historically suppressed is just wild to me.

[llyfrenfys]

I'm making my opposition to the proposal to severely reduce language provision at the University of Aberdeen known - Scottish Gaelic, an endangered Celtic langauge, is one of the languages at risk of being cut. This would do immense damage to the language revitalisation effort. @uniofaberdeen must reverse this decision and commit to protecting Gaelic and other languages in their institution.

If you feel the same way, you're encouraged to make more posts and stories about the issue to show the University of Aberdeen just how much this decision is frowned upon. Use the hashtag #saveuoalanguages in your posts to get the word out about this.

I'll be travelling tomorrow and wish I could do more right now. But together we can make it known just how unpopular this decision is.

[linguisticdiscovery]

How the Mohawk community is working to revitalize their language

[itskindofareallyniceday]

Something new for Native American Heritage Month this year:

This playlist features indigenous musicians from North, Central, and South America. It includes a variety of genres (post-classical composers, folk punk, indie pop, pow wow punk rock (yes, that's a thing!), indie rock, etc.), as well as a variety of languages (Wolastoqey, Inuktitut, Atikamekw, Cherokee, Navajo, Cree, Quechua, Greenlandic (Kalaallisut), Tłı̨chǫ, English, French, and Spanish).

[uwmarchives]

Native American Heritage Month at UWM Archives

In honor of Native American Heritage Month, we offer this selection of materials from our collections that begin to illustrate Native American presence and power at UWM.

📸: Sandra Harris Tran tables for the Native American Student Movement (NASM) at UWM, circa 1980. The NASM has been a key vehicle for Native student organizing, support, and expression since the late 1960s. NASM is now known as the American Indian Student Association. Call Number: UWM Photographs Collection, UWM AC 6, Box 18.

📸: A Milwaukee Sentinel clipping pictures American Indian students organizing for a dedicated academic program outside Chapman Hall in 1971. Call Number: UWM University Communications & Media Relations Records, UWM AC 134, Box 2.

📸: The cover to a 1974 catalog shows the fruits of Native student organizing in the form of the UWM Native American Studies Program (now American Indian Studies). Call Number: UWM Office of the Chancellor Records, UWM AC 46, Box 54.

📸: The UWM Native American Studies Program announces the pilot of the Wisconsin Native American Languages Project (WNALP) in 1974. This announcement is from "Anishinaabe News: UW-Milwaukee American Indian News," a newsletter of the Native American Studies Program and NASM. Call Number: UWM Office of the Chancellor Records, UWM AC 46, Box 54.

📸: Margaret Richmond offers language instruction to a class of Native "youngsters" as a Menominee Language Resource Consultant for the WNALP in 1976. Call Number: UWM Photographs Collection, UWM AC 6, Box 18. The earlier Native American Studies Program WNALP announcement anticipates an appropriate caption: "We've a lot to learn from our elders!"

In cooperation with the Great Lakes Intertribal Council, UWM Archives stewards the Wisconsin Native American Languages Project Records, 1973-1976 (UWM Mss 20). With extensive instructional materials from the WNALP, the collection continues to serve as an important resource for the study and revitalization of Wisconsin's Native languages for citizens of Wisconsin's Ojibwe, Menominee, Oneida, Potawatomi, and Ho-Chunk nations.

- Eli

[dougielombax]

Parallels

Or

Seeing Patterns in Things That Aren’t There

Part 51.

He Couldn’t see the Forest for the Trees

Also known as

The Felling of the Trees

Or

The Trees Strike Back

1. “Of course, it is likely enough, my friends,' he said slowly, 'likely enough that we are going to our doom: the last march of the Ents. But if we stayed home and did nothing, doom would find us anyway, sooner or later.” - Treebeard

- The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (1954).

J. R. R. Tolkien.

(Art by Matt Ferguson)

(I was going to use some screenshots from the film adaptation but I couldn’t find any in good enough quality)

Kind of speaks for itself.

Treebeard and the Ents awaken from their long sleep with Merry and Pippin at their side to see the forest of Fangorn being razed by Saruman’s army of orcs and Uruk-Hai to fuel his war machine.

And after much deliberation, as his forces are away attacking Helm’s Deep, Treebeard and the Ents decide to launch an attack on Isengard when Saruman least expects it.

Kicking his ass and razing his infernal war factory to the ground in the process.

2. “Alder, pre-eminent in lineage, attacked in the beginning;

Willow and rowan were late to the army;

Thorny plum was greedy for slaughter

...

Fir trees to the fore, ruler in battles;

Ash performed excellently before monarchs;

Elm because of its ferocity did not budge a foot:

it would strike in the middle, on the flanks, and in the end.

...

Swift and mighty oak: before him trembled heaven and earth;

Fierce enemy of warriors, his name in wax tablets.'”

etc.

- Cad Goddeu (The Battle of the Trees). 14th Century. Attributed to Taliesin.

(From the Book of Taliesin. A 14th century manuscript containing a collection of poems in Middle Welsh. A folio of which is depicted above)

(Passages from this poem were also translated into Sanskrit and used by John Williams for the Duel of the Fates in his score to the Star Wars prequels)

Kind of speaks for itself.

One cannot help but wonder.

Given Tolkien’s fondness for Celtic mythology and his love of the Welsh language, did he perhaps know of the Cad Goddeu and/or the Book of Taliesin, and could it have inspired the creation of the Ents and their role in The Lord of the Rings?

(Although the circumstances are a bit different. The Ents were always fully sentient beings, while the trees in the Cad Goddeu are enchanted by Gwydion.)

Now it is known that their actions were also his means of throwing shade at William Shakespeare due to his personal disappointment concerning a similar scene in Macbeth but more cannot be said of such matters beyond this.

Regardless, I felt that it was worth pointing out.

Make of this what you will.

[karekuat]

Yek tanestuk amehemet, I have good news!

I will be teaching an Indigenous language starting in the summer this year!!

More details:

What is Nawat?

Nawat (sometimes spelled Náhuat) is an Indigenous language native to the western half of Guxgatan, what is now called El Salvador.

Why teach it?

Unfortunately, due to colonization the language only now has around 50 native speakers in El Salvador. We would like to help share it with the Salvadorean diaspora and publish things like books, plays, music, and more in order to revitalize our language.

Where is it being taught?

There are many places in El Salvador that teach Nawat, however most of these places are run by the government and use colonial sources that don't accurately reflect the way Nawat is spoken in Indigenous communities.

ANIS, the national association of Indigenous Salvadoreans, has initiated a school called Xućigisa An Ne Náwat and employs actual native speakers who live in Indigenous communities to teach the language and culture, as well as Indigenous values and worldview. On occasion, we also offer elective classes with the subject of Indigenous queerness, traditional medicine, embroidery/weaving, and singing.

The language classes are easy for both English and Spanish speakers, but the elective classes tend to be Spanish based only.

Unlike most government run Nawat classes, Xućigisa An Ne Náwat is also a queer and trans focused community, with our queerness being an inherent part of our Indigenous culture and identity.

If you are of the Salvadorean diaspora and are interested in reconnecting with our Indigenous roots, please consider reaching out to sign up for classes with ANIS, I will also be making updates when enrollment is actively available year round. Tuition is based on what you can give and can be as low as $10 per month, all tuition is so that we can support the Indigenous teachers who currently live in poverty.

If you are not Salvadorean or just don't have an interest in taking classes, please still consider donating to help us create more resources in order to keep our language alive.

Anyone is free to send me an ask or DM about further information.

Sujsul padiux !!

EDIT:

If you are reading this, Please check the reblog on this post by me for updated info on this. I will no longer be a TA for this school!!

[tlajtollirambles]

YouTube Channels for learning Nahuatlahtolli

Classic Nahuatl

(for spanish & english speakers)

(for spanish speakers / pa' quienes hablan español)

Sierra Negra of Tehuacan

(for spanish speakers, pa' quienes hablan español)

Huasteca Veracruzana

(for spanish speakers/ pa' quienes hablan español)

Milpa Alta

(For spanish speakers / pa' quienes hablan español)

Huasteca Nahuatl

(for english speakers)

Huasteca Hidalguense

(for spanish speakers / pa' quienes hablan español)

Unknown Variant

(for spanish speakers / pa' quienes hablan español)

(for english speakers)

[eth-alisanru]

Gaulish Translation 1 :

Source : Arknights https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=137187401178598&set=pcb.137188081178530 Auteur/Author :@Lalvice_沙離dr在銭鎖双狼 https://passport.weibo.com/visitor/visitor?entry=miniblog&a=enter&url=https%3A%2F%2Fweibo.com%2Fu%2F5207773548&domain=.weibo.com&sudaref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bing.com%2F&ua=php-sso_sdk_client-0.6.36&_rand=1675412986.2487 It's not an "litteral" translation because some words aren't simply existing in reconstructions or are attested, so I tried to fill the gaps by modifying a little bit the dialogs. ----------------------------- Ce n'est pas une traduction "littérale" car certains mots n'existent simplement pas dans les reconstructions ou attestés, alors j'ai essayé de combler le manque en modifiant un peu les dialogues Translation (French-English) : Silverash : Il y a ici un "complément de cause", alors quel mot je dois mettre Exusiai peut-tu répondre ? There is here an "adverbial phrase of "reason", so which word should I put ? Exusiai, can you answer ? Exusiai : OUI, c'est...c'est/YES, it's...it's Mostima M.Silverash a demandé quelle était ta nourriture préré Sir (Lord) Silverash asked what is your favorite food Exusiai: Oh ! (ma) nourriture préférée/Oh ! Favorite food ! J'aime les tartes au pommes ! OUI ! I like apple pies, YES ! Silverash : Sors de (cette) salle ! Get out of this room