LINGUIST List 33.2656
Wed Aug 31 2022
Media: Minority and Endangered Languages Database
Editor for this issue: Everett Green <everettlinguistlist.org>
Date: 01-Aug-2022
From: Jette Hansen Edwards <jhansen
cuhk.edu.hk>
Subject: Minority and Endangered Languages Database
E-mail this message to a friend Professor Jette G. Hansen Edwards of the Department of English at The Chinese University of Hong Kong has created a website entitled Telling Stories: Linguistic Diversity in Hong Kong. It is open access and available at:
https://www.eng.cuhk.edu.hk/ENGE-TellingStories/.
Telling Stories: Linguistic Diversity in Hong Kong was created to showcase the languages of Hong Kong, past and present. Hong Kong has always been a site of vibrant multiculturalism and multilingualism; this website seeks to highlight this linguistic and cultural diversity through a database of speech samples and translations of the many languages and varieties that have been historically spoken or are in use in present-day Hong Kong. The website was developed to be easily accessible by researchers as well as by teachers and students, and to be used to explore a range of linguistic issues including linguistic diversity, minority languages, language endangerment, linguistic discrimination, and world Englishes.
Extensive historical and online document analyses were conducted in order to identify the languages and varieties to include in the website; in addition, potential speakers for the project were solicited through mass emails and social media. A particular focus of this research was on the languages/varieties spoken by ethnic minorities as well as endangered languages/varieties in Hong Kong, such as Hakka, Waitau, Tanka.
Despite the increasing public awareness of the need to preserve endangered languages, as well as to provide more linguistic and cultural resources for ethnic minorities and members of the deaf community in Hong Kong, there has as yet been no attempt to create an archive which seeks not only to document and preserve language diversity in Hong Kong, but also serves as an educational tool and research resource for educators, schools, students, and academics. This is the aim of the Telling Stories website, which is a database of spoken language data that has also been transcribed into written text format from a wide range of languages and varieties found in Hong Kong; these stories aim to raise awareness of the rich cultural and linguistic heritage of Hong Kong, to document and protect endangered languages, and to increase awareness of the cultural and linguistic richness found among ethnic minorities and members of the deaf community in Hong Kong. The incorporation of Hong Kong Sign Language into the archive is also an importance means of creating visibility and inclusiveness for members of this community.
As a result of extensive research, 41 languages, comprising 14 varieties of Chinese, 12 other Asian languages, 7 African languages, and 8 European languages, were identified as having been historically or are currently spoken in Hong Kong. In addition, 29 varieties of English were identified, including 13 varieties of Asian English, 6 varieties of African English, 8 varieties of European Englishes, 1 variety of Australasian English and 1 variety of North American English. We hope to expand the range of languages/varieties in the future.
The languages identified for the project include the indigenous languages of Hong Kong, such as Hakka, Waitau, and Tanka, as well as other varieties of Chinese such as Cantonese, Teochew, Putonghua, Hokkien
Linguistic Field(s): Language Documentation
Subject Language(s):
Chinese, Min Zhong (czo) Chinese, Pu-Xian (cpx) Chinese, Wu (wuu) Chinese, Xiang (hsn) Chinese, Yue (yue) Language Family(ies): Sino-Tibetan
Page Updated: 31-Aug-2022