Web-Based Archive of the Indigenous Languages of Latin America (AILLA)

University Of Texas At Austin, Austin TX

Investigators

Abstract

The Archive of the Indigenous Languages of Latin America (AILLA) will be a web-accessible database of audio and textual data from the indigenous languages of Latin America, focusing on naturally-occurring discourse. Scholars, students, and indigenous people will be able to access the AILLA database using their web browsers, search and browse the contents of the database, and download audio and text files from the database onto their own computers, which they can then listen to or read immediately, using free, downloadable software. AILLA will archive primarily unpublished and previously unavailable audio recordings and texts, and both preserve them and make them easily accessible by creating a centralized and organized repository of digitized copies of these materials. In developing and implementing the database and web-browser interface, AILLA will create a robust information infrastructure for use by researchers, students, and indigenous peoples. It will also develop: search tools for comparative, typological, and historical research on language; language data related protocols including a metadata scheme, data structures, and applications; and standards and tools to address ethical issues of privacy and intellectual property rights for language materials on the web. The fundamental goal is to create an infrastructure for distributed scholarship in language-related disciplines concerned with indigenous Latin America. In addition to making data available for basic research, AILLA will provide a wide range of data for use in teaching courses in anthropology, linguistics, and other language-related fields. It will facilitate the interchange of data between Latin American, North American, and European scholars and between scholars and indigenous communities, and will form an important new link in the network of people working with the indigenous languages of Latin America. AILLA will also be a resource for indigenous communities working to preserve, maintain, and revitalize their languages.