Aretyry Kari'nja (Carib): Training Speech Community Members in Documentation, Description, and Materials Development

University Of Oregon Eugene, Eugene OR

Investigators

Abstract

This project allows Dr. Gildea and colleagues at the University of Oregon Eugene to conduct new documentary work on under-documented varieties of Kari'nja, an endangered language of Suriname. The researchers propose four activities: (i) bring members of the Aretyry Kari'nja-speaking community (of Suriname) to Oregon to receive training in language documentation and revitalization in the context of an independently-organized linguistic institute, (ii) record speakers of the language in Oregon where there is access to high-quality recording equipment not otherwise accessible to the community, (iii) conduct new documentary work on an under-documented varieties of Kari'nja in collaboration with Kari'nja speakers who received training in Oregon, and (iii) conduct training workshops for Kari'nja communities in Suriname to help them with their documentation efforts. The information uncovered by this project will enhance the scientific understanding of linguistic phenomena like typology of prosodic systems, work classes, and ergativity. The project will also produce high quality documentation of languages and dialects for which information is not easily accessible, and serves as a model for future collaborative documentation projects. Beyond archived recordings, pedagogical materials, and academic analyses of stress and grammar, this project builds the capacity for future productivity. Those most affected by their language loss, Kari'nja themselves, are already active participants in documentation, description, and revitalizing their ancestral language. This project gives them more tools and training, which they will continue using long after the grant period. This project expands the documentation of Aretyry Kari'nja to other communities within and beyond Suriname's borders, and will permit the Konomerume, Cornelis Kondre, and Kalebas Kreek teams to design their own documentation projects.