The goals of this project are two-fold. First, the project focuses on further developing the infrastructure of an on-line database that includes a dictionary, a grammar, and texts of an endangered language. A dictionary, a grammar, and texts are considered to provide the basic material required for research on a language, and themselves involve considerable research. Second, the project further develops the content of the database, adding previously inaccessible materials, and in particular sound materials, to the database.
This database will serve as a model for other on-line dictionaries, grammars, and texts. It will also be invaluable to those working on looking to understand the internal structure of the language family, and how the languages have developed over time, and the recordings included in it allow for the study of actual speech, an area of great importance in linguistics today. As a language from a family with complex verb structure, the database also provides rich material for its study, particularly in comparison with related languages, to understand how such complexities change over time and space. It also aids in the preservation of and access to materials that are irreplaceable today.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
