A World of Indigenous Languages

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Indigenous Languages

Tusaaji Tusilaartuq: When the Translator Must be Hard of Hearing

1969 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Louis-Jacques Dorais
Keyword(s):  
Hard Of Hearing ◽  
Indigenous Languages ◽  
Target Language ◽  
New Words ◽  
Written Texts

This article examines how translation to and from Inuktitut, the language of the Eastern Canadian Inuit, often compels the translator to create new words or explanatory phrases in the target language, in order to cope with the existing cultural and semantic gaps between most Indigenous languages and languages of wider communication. Moreover, the transcription of Inuktitut into the syllabic script also entails phonetic distortions. The article concludes that some types of translations in Inuktitut are practically useless, but that more Inuktitut oral and written texts should be translated into mainstream languages.

Special Issue on Indigenous Languages: Introduction

Language ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 95 (S1) ◽  
pp. e474-e478
Author(s):  
Sarah G. Thomason
Keyword(s):  
Indigenous Languages ◽  
Special Issue

Indigenous Languages through a Reclamation Lens

2019 ◽  
Vol 60 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Wesley Y. Leonard
Keyword(s):  
Indigenous Languages

scholarly journals Language is land, land is language: The importance of Indigenous languages

2021 ◽  
pp. 194277862110228
Author(s):  
Susan Chiblow ◽  
Paul J. Meighan
Keyword(s):  
Traditional Ecological Knowledge ◽  
Lived Experiences ◽  
Language Immersion ◽  
Indigenous Languages ◽  
Indigenous Language ◽  
Ecological Knowledge ◽  
Scottish Gaelic ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Ojibwe Language ◽  
Humanitarian Crises

This collaborative opinion piece, written from the authors’ personal perspectives (Anishinaabe and Gàidheal) on Anishinaabemowin (Ojibwe language) and Gàidhlig (Scottish Gaelic language), discusses the importance of maintaining and revitalizing Indigenous languages, particularly in these times of climate and humanitarian crises. The authors will give their personal responses, rooted in lived experiences, on five areas they have identified as a starting point for their discussion: (1) why Indigenous languages are important; (2) the effects of colonization on Indigenous languages; (3) the connections/responsibilities to the land, such as Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK), embedded in Indigenous languages; (4) the importance of land-based learning and education, full language immersion, and the challenges associated with implementing these strategies for Indigenous language maintenance and revitalization; and (5) where we can go from here.

Philological Reversion in Post-Apartheid South Africa: The Sand Writing and Alternate Alphabets of Willem Boshoff

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 524-549
Author(s):  
Kurt Campbell
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Central Place ◽  
Indigenous Languages ◽  
Educational Policies ◽  
Current Debate ◽  
Critical Thought ◽  
Education Act ◽  
Contemporary Artist ◽  
Democratic Elections

Abstract This article focuses on the conceptual implications of specific works of contemporary artist and wordsmith Adriaan Willem Boshoff. Boshoff uses his creations to challenge the terms of the current debate around indigenous languages in southern Africa through artworks such as Blind Alphabet and his Sand Writing Series. These works call viewers to an emphatic return to an understanding of scripts (and the worlds they produce) as embodied systems of tradition that occupy the central place not only in the groups they serve, but indeed in a larger vision of a culturally tolerant and affirmative nation. The article tracks key South African educational policies such as the Apartheid era Bantu Education Act of 1953, and the Corrective Language Act of 1998 after the first democratic elections to contextualize the politics of legislative development in South Africa as related to indigenous scripts and languages. Beyond this bureaucratic history, the article foregrounds partisan agency that individuals such as Wilhelm Bleek, Lucy Lloyd and Magrieta Jantjies displayed as custodians of endangered scripts and languages, culminating in a discussion of the provocative works Boshoff created to stimulate critical thought on contemporaneous philological concerns in South Africa.

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