The Institute on Collaborative Language Research or CoLang is a biennial training institute in

language documentation Language documentation (also: documentary linguistics) is a subfield of linguistics which aims to describe the grammar and use of human languages. It aims to provide a comprehensive record of the linguistic practices characteristic of a given speec ...

for any person interested in community-based, collaborative language work. CoLang has been described as part of a modern collaborative model in community-based methodologies of

language revitalization Language revitalization, also referred to as language revival or reversing language shift, is an attempt to halt or reverse the decline of a language or to revive an extinct one. Those involved can include linguists, cultural or community group ...

and documentation.

Activities

The institute happens in even-numbered summers (opposite the Linguistic Society of America Summer Institute) at various American universities, but it has drawn participants and instructors from around the world, including

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. The first part of the institute consists of two weeks of workshops on topics like community archiving, linguistics, audio and video recording, language teaching, and activism. The workshops are followed by a three or four week practicum where participants work intensively with speakers of a language to document it. While each individual institute is organized by one or two local director(s), CoLang as a whole is governed by its Advisory Circle, which includes Indigenous scholars, linguistics professors, language activists, students, and representatives from partner organizations. Each institute has been funded by a grant from the

National Science Foundation The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) is an Independent agencies of the United States government#Examples of independent agencies, independent agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that su ...

's Dynamic Language Infrastructure (formerly called Documenting Endangered Languages) program. The first InField in 2008 resulted in ongoing collaboration between Kennedy Bosire and Carlos Nash for the completion of the

Ekegusii The Gusii language (also known as Ekegusii) is a Bantu language spoken in Kisii and Nyamira counties in Nyanza Kenya, whose headquarters is Kisii Town (between the Kavirondo Gulf of Lake Victoria and the border with Tanzania). It is spoken nat ...

encyclopedia and a dissertation on tone in Ekegusii, while the fifth CoLang in 2016 resulted in the development of a thirty-year revitalization plan for Kristang in

. InField/CoLang has also resulted in ongoing community-based linguistics work in Kwak'wala and Kari’nja, among others.

History

CoLang was founded in 2008 as InField, the Institute on Field Linguistics and Language Documentation, by Carol Genetti. The institute was renamed to CoLang and adopted a charter and Advisory Circle in 2012. CoLang announced a long-term partnership with the

Linguistic Society of America The Linguistic Society of America (LSA) is a learned society for the field of linguistics. Founded in New York City in 1924, the LSA works to promote the scientific study of language. The society publishes three scholarly journals: ''Language'', ...

(LSA) in 2015.

InField 2008 California

InField 2008 was held at the

University of California Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Tracing its roots back to 1891 as an independent teachers college, UCSB joined ...

. The director was Carol Genetti. The practicum languages were

, Kwak'wala, and Mende.

InField 2010 Oregon

InField 2010 was held at the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a Public university, public research university in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1876, the university is organized into nine colleges and schools and offers 420 undergraduate and gra ...

. The director was Spike Gildea. The practicum languages were

Northern Paiute Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a ...

Uyghur Uyghur may refer to: * Uyghurs, a Turkic ethnic group living in Eastern and Central Asia (West China) ** Uyghur language, a Turkic language spoken primarily by the Uyghurs *** Old Uyghur language, a different Turkic language spoken in the Uyghur K ...

, and Wapishana.

CoLang 2012 Kansas

CoLang 2012 was held at the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States. Two branch campuses are in the Kansas City metropolitan area on the Kansas side: the university's medical school and hospital ...

. The directors were Arienne Dwyer and Carlos Nash. The practicum languages were

Amazigh Berbers, or the Berber peoples, also known as Amazigh or Imazighen, are a diverse grouping of distinct ethnic groups indigenous to North Africa who predate the arrival of Arabs in the Maghreb. Their main connections are identified by their u ...

Cherokee The Cherokee (; , or ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, they were concentrated in their homelands, in towns along river valleys of what is now southwestern ...

, and Uda.

CoLang 2014 Texas

CoLang 2014 was held at the University of Texas Arlington. The director was Colleen Fitzgerald. The practicum languages were

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

, Apoala Mixtec (course in Spanish),

Innu The Innu/Ilnu ('man, person'), formerly called Montagnais (French for ' mountain people'; ), are the Indigenous Canadians who inhabit northeastern Labrador in present-day Newfoundland and Labrador and some portions of Quebec. They refer to ...

, and Ngambai.

CoLang 2016 Alaska

CoLang 2016 was held at the

University of Alaska Fairbanks The University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF or Alaska) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-, National Sea Grant College Program, sea-, and National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program, space-grant research university in ...

. The directors were Alice Taff and Siri Tuttle. The practicum languages were Han, Miyako, and Unangam Tunuu

CoLang 2018 Florida

CoLang 2018 was held at the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...

. The director was George Aaron Broadwell. The practicum languages were

Timucua The Timucua were a Native American people who lived in Northeast and North Central Florida and southeast Georgia. They were the largest indigenous group in that area and consisted of about 35 chiefdoms, many leading thousands of people. The va ...

, Macuiltianguis Zapotec, and Nyangbo (Tutrugbu).

CoLang 2022 Montana

CoLang 2020 was to be held at the

University of Montana The University of Montana (UM) is a public research university in Missoula, Montana, United States. UM is a flagship institution of the Montana University System and its second largest campus. Fall 2024 saw total enrollment hit 10,811, marki ...

, co-directed by Mizuki Miyashita and Susan Penfield. It was cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, but took place in 2022. The practicum languages were

Northern Cheyenne The Northern Cheyenne Tribe of the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation () is the federally recognized Northern Cheyenne tribe and a Plains tribe. The Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation is reservation located in southeastern Montana, that is ...

and

South Bolivian Quechua South Bolivian Quechua, also known as Central Bolivian Quechua, is a dialect of Southern Quechua spoken in Bolivia and adjacent areas of Argentina, where it is also known as ''Colla''. It is not to be confused with North Bolivian Quechua, which i ...

Advisory Circle

The CoLang Advisory Circle provides long-term stewardship of the Institute and guidance to the Local Organizing Committee for each individual Institute; it also seeks to develop public awareness of CoLang and the institute's commitment toward preserving and sustaining language diversity.

Current Advisory Circle

''Current as of February 2017'' *Fakhruddin Akhunzada (2020) *Aaron Broadwell (2020) *Ewa Czaykowska-Higgins (2018) (co-convener) *Susan Gehr (2018) (co-convener) * Spike Gildea (2020) *Seunghun J. Lee (2020) *Megan Lukaniec (2018) *Leroi Morgan (2020) *Carolyn O'Meara (2020) *Jean-Luc Pierite (2020) *Heather Powell (2020) *

Keren Rice Keren D. Rice (born 1949) is a Canadians, Canadian linguist. She is a professor of linguistics and serves as the director of the Centre for Aboriginal Initiatives at the University of Toronto. Education and career Rice earned her PhD in 1976 ...

(2018) *Kris Stenzel (2020) *Alice Taff (2020) *Adrienne Tsikewa (2018) * Kevin Martens Wong (2018)

References

External links

* * * * * * * * {{Official website, http://www.linguistics.ucsb.edu/faculty/infield/, InField 2008 official website Linguistic societies 2008 establishments in the United States Language documentation