And now we are five

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As I pointed out in a previous post, there have been a lot of new developments in the field of endangered languages research in the past five years. One of those has been the publication series Language Documentation and Description which we produce annually at SOAS. We started the series in 2003 with the launch of HRELP, the Hans Rausing Endangered Languages Project (in fact, the first volume contains papers from our launch event and the workshop that followed). Hot off the presses this week is the fifth volume of papers, containing six papers on three topics: data and language documentation, digital video and archiving in language documentation, and training and activism in documentary linguistics. Here is the table of contents (for more details including a downloadable PDF of my Editor’s Preface and an order form go here):


Editor’s Preface
List of Contributors
Data and language documentation
Data, but data from what?
Ruth Finnegan
Linguist’s multi-layered data and the linguistic community’s polyphony
Maurizio Gnerre
On the representativeness of language documentations
Frank Seifart
Digital video and archiving
The role of digital video in language documentation
Louise Ashmore
Digital archives: essential elements in the workflow for endangered languages documentation and revitalisation
David Nathan
Training and activism
Language activism and the “new linguistics”: expanding opportunities for documenting endangered languages in Indonesia
Margaret Florey
To celebrate the fifth anniversary of publishing LDD, we are offering a package of all the issues (Volumes 1 to 5) plus two free CD-ROMs for a special price of £30 (plus postage and packaging). This price represents 40% off the usual price of the individual volumes, and for 55 papers and almost 1,000 pages I think it is great value for money. This offer is available for a limited time only and closes on 30th September 2008.
To order the full set of Language Documentation and Description at the special anniversary price go to this page, download and complete the order form [.doc] and return it with payment by post or fax to the address given on the form.
Now, back to work on Volume 6 which will contain papers from the two workshops we held earlier this year, Issues in Language Revitalisation and Maintenance and Engagement and Activism in Endangered Languages Research.

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2 thoughts on “And now we are five”

  1. Hey – just a stupid procedural question here. I wonder why Peter K Austin doesn’t have his own user account and why all his posts appear under the name of Jane Simpson…

  2. Fair comment. To be an author of this blog, you have to have a University of Sydney affiliation. So, seeing if we can arrange that for Peter is in my job-jar for when I draw breath after LingFest.

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