The National Science Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities have launched an effort to preserve endangered languages throughout the world.

The project has so far awarded $4.4 million in grants. An additional $2 million a year is now available, according to the Associated Press.

The effort is being used to preserve Native languages. The University of Alaska, Fairbanks, has received about $110,000 to digitize Yup'ik audio recordings. The Museum of the Cherokee Indian in North Carolina is using $168,000 to digitize, translate, and assess Cherokee language materials.

The Chief Dull Knife College in Montana received $100,000 to protect the Northern Cheyenne language. The University of Arizona is using $200,000 for Mohave and Chemehuevi. There are only five fluent speakers of Chemehuevi, according to a researcher.

Get the Story:
Project Seeks to Preserve Dying Languages (AP 8/10)
pwpwd

Relevant Links:
National Endowment for the Humanities - http://www.neh.gov
National Science Foundation - http://www.nsf.gov