This project seeks to document instances of naturally occurring speech in Kuna, a Chibchan language spoken mostly in the Panamanian-Colombian border area. The data obtained from this documentation effort will then be used to produce processed texts and a comprehensive grammar of the language, with an emphasis on community interests of strengthening and revitalization. The initial stage of the project will focus on collecting already-recorded, but unpublished, texts and making new audio and video recordings of Kuna speech. The purpose is to enrich and complement the existing collection of recordings by adding genres that are not represented currently in the language archives. Just as importantly, the project will produce several hours of processed texts for community use, through careful transcription, translation and morpheme-by-morpheme glossing of selected recordings.

The project also seeks to train native Kuna speakers in basic linguistic descriptive terminology and documentation methods. The participation of Kuna speakers in the process of documentation, through workshops and seminars, is important because it places value on community input and ensures continual support of the community in strengthening and revitalization efforts. The objectives of the project are lined up with the growing awareness of language and cultural loss among Panamanian-educated Kuna. This has resulted in an interest in rescuing the use of Kuna language and the exercise of cultural practices of dancing and chanting in urban centers. The project can have a lasting impact within the community of Kuna speakers if its members are encouraged to carry out their own documentation projects and share new materials with the community. The work presented here, therefore, serves as a complement to work already started within the community.

Project Report

This project was borne out of the growing interest and concern in the documentation and description of the Kuna language, especially in terms of the availability of media and written materials about the language to the general community of speakers. Therefore, the project’s objectives focused on the documentation of naturally occurring speech in Kuna, and especially on making more recordings available to the community through web-based digital archives. In addition, careful transcriptions and interlinearization (glossing) were made of selected texts so that written and printed material would be made available. Finally, another objective of the project was to equip other community members with basic tools (training in documentation practices and in the use of audio/video equipment) for continuing the documentation of Kuna. The initial stage of the project focused on gathering already recorded but unpublished texts, as well as making new recordings. Unpublished texts are recordings that have been collected individually by members of the community, often with the idea that a particular genre may be endangered. The purpose of gathering these unpublished texts was to collect and organize previously recorded material that may otherwise be lost. The student researcher successfully gathered 14 hours of these types of recordings. The necessary permissions were acquired and these files were converted to digital format for archiving. The second stage of the project involved the recording of new material of naturally occurring speech and processing the recordings through transcription and interlinear glossing of old and new material. A big focus of the project was to contribute directly to the documentation and preservation of Kuna by enriching and complementing the collection already available. The student researcher selected 19 individuals and recorded approximately 20 hours of audio and 3 hours of video. The sample was diverse in speaker selection and included differences in age, sex, social group and minor dialectal variation. These recordings were made in a 6 month period from October 2010 to March 2011. Of the total hours of collected material (old and new), the student researcher transcribed 15 hours of recordings that offer a representative sample across different speakers and genres. For transcription, the student researcher used the annotation software ‘Transcriber.’ As part of the project, the student researcher still plans to gloss about 2 hours of the 15 hours of translated/transcribed material. Another aim of the project was to train community members in the use of documentation tools and methods so that they can also carry out the documentation of the language. The training of two members of the community was done through the Congreso General Kuna (Kuna General Congress), an institution that represents the interests of the Kuna people on the national stage; these members of the community will continue working with the Congreso as volunteers to continue teaching what they have learned because the Congreso has expressed interest in starting their own documentation projects. The two native Kuna speakers, Pailiber Rodriguez and Yageri Perez, were trained in the use of the audio and video recorders, the transfer of files to a digital format, and the use of different annotation tools for transcription and translation. The student researcher also held different linguistic workshops using the materials we gathered. An average of 30 attendees were present for an 8 week discussion class (starting on February 2011 and ending on May 2011) on linguistic topics in Kuna. There was an attendance of 109 Kunas for the first class, evidence that the community is really excited about continuing to document and preserve the Kuna language. Due to different factors, many were not able to continue but expressed interest in these kinds of seminars in the future. The end result of the project is the completion of a comprehensive grammar of Kuna. Grammar authors have been concerned more recently about writing grammars for an audience beyond that of scholars, evidenced by the fact that recent development in grammar-writing focuses on community needs as well as the need of the linguistic community. Thus, our focus will shift from documenting and acquiring recordings of naturally occurring speech to the process of writing a grammar of Kuna. The student researcher is interested in providing the community of speakers a tool for understanding the intricacies of his and their native/heritage language, a tool that responds to the community’s interests in the revitalization and strengthening of Kuna. This will be an ongoing stage as he plans to use the data collected as the backbone of the grammar.

Project Start
Project End
Budget Start
2010-06-01
Budget End
2011-05-31
Support Year
Fiscal Year
2009
Total Cost
$10,200
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Texas Austin
Department
Type
DUNS #
City
Austin
State
TX
Country
United States
Zip Code
78712