Developing CHamoru Language Infrastructure

University Of Guam, Mangilao GU

Investigators

Abstract

The CHamoru people of Guam, a territory of the United States in Micronesia, have historically spoken the indigenous language CHamoru as part of their linguistic repertoire for over 3,000 years. However, as of 2017, 70% of CHamoru speakers are currently over 55 years of age and less than 5% are younger than 30 years of age. The language is no longer being transmitted inter-generationally. Complicated features of the language and unique cultural knowledge and practices are being lost. Most of these features and practices are undocumented, including the use of specialized language for traditional practices. Since these parts of the language are sparsely documented, this knowledge repository is exclusively held in the minds of older speakers. In addition, the indigenous CHamoru people, along with other Pacific Islanders, face major disparities in educational advancement and are underrepresented in all of the sciences quite significantly. This project seeks to address both the scientific and educational challenges. This project will document the expanse of CHamoru knowledge and produce a lasting record of this knowledge, simultaneously useful for scholars and the CHamoru community itself. This archive of recordings (audio and video) will be the only one of its kind on CHamoru and will facilitate further scholarship on the language. Broader impacts include broadening participation of underrepresented U.S. citizens in the social sciences, specifically linguistics. The data will be archived at Kaipuleohone UH Digital Language Archive at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa, as well as archived at the Micronesian Area Research Center (MARC) on Guam to develop a local repository. Developing CHamoru Language Infrastructure: Goggue Yan Chachalani Mo'na I Fino'-ta [Embrace and Make a Way Forward for Our Language] seeks to provide an in-depth understanding of the underpinnings of the CHamoru language as spoken by remaining first language speakers and to develop a cadre of language documenters drawn from university students and language educators in Guam. Carefully selected first language speakers, who are acknowledged experts, will identify traditional terms and cultural practices related to five specific cultural areas (fishing, agricultural, spirituality, medicinal plants, and artisanal crafts). The first language speakers will also be asked to produce speech samples in open-ended and guided interviews to document unique linguistic features which are rapidly disappearing or significantly altered in second language speakers. These include intonation, vowel harmony, consonant assimilation, derivational affixation, and use of CHamoru's focus system. This project will develop a repository of marked and tagged interviews and elicitations. This project will simultaneously generate new information and collect existing data and in a way that is useful for linguists, the community, and academics studying endangered languages. This project is jointly funded by the Documenting Endangered Languages Program and the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR). 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.