BLOOMINGTON (UNITED STATES) – Linguistics experts are turning to cutting-edge technologies to revitalize threatened Native American languages — and rejuvenate generations of Indigenous tradition — through new approaches such as children’s books and smartphone apps.
In one such endeavor, three Native American women rack their brains as they gather around a computer, trying to remember — and record — dozens of Apache language words related to everyday activities such as cooking and eating.
They are creating an online English-Apache dictionary, just one of several projects working to preserve endangered Indigenous languages in the United States.
The women are working with Rapid Word Collection (RWC) software, which uses an algorithm to search Apache text and audio databases for so-called forgotten words.
The words are then defined, translated into English, and their…
