[ from Peter K. Austin, Endangered Languages Academic Programme, Linguistics Department, SOAS]
The recently established Fondation Chirac in collaboration with the Musée du quai Branly and Unesco is organising a one-day public event to be held on Monday 9th June in Paris called "SOROSORO pour que vivent les langues du monde!" (SOROSORO long live the languages of the world! ). Sorosoro in the Araki language of Vanuatu means ‘breath, word, language’. The event will highlight the current situation of language diversity and endangered languages and includes presentations by linguists from France, Gabon, Guatemala, UK and Vanuatu.
The programme begins at 3pm in the Claude Levi-Strauss Theatre at the Museum and includes the following presentations (my translations of the French original):
| 3pm |
Rozenn Milin, Director of the
Sorosoro Project |
Presentation of the Sorosoro
Project |
| Erik Orsenna, author, winner of
the Goncourt Prize and member of the Academie Francaise and Rigoberta
Menchu, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize 2002 |
Introduction and welcome |
|
| 3:30 pm |
Colette Grinevald, Lyon-2
University |
How to think about linguistic
diversity: what it is and why should we preserve it |
| 4pm |
Peter K. Austin, SOAS |
How linguists and communities
are working together to document and support endangered languages |
| 4:30pm |
Patrick Mougiamao Daoudan, Omar
Bongon University, Gabon |
The languages of Gabon and
biodiversity: 700 catalogued names of animals |
| 5pm |
Juliana Sis Iboyn, Director of OKMA (Centre for documentation of Guatemala Mayan languages) | The languages of Guatemala: when
the Maya put in place the process of revitalisation |
| 5:30pm |
Hannah Bogiri, University of South Pacific, Vanuatu | Vanuatu, a small country with the highest linguistic density in the world: the politics of preservation |
| 6pm |
Jacques Chirac, former President of France | Closing remarks |
The event is free and open to all. It will be a great opportunity to highlight linguistic diversity issues and the high profile of the non-linguists attending is likely to attract attention and participation well beyond the usual academic audience
Comments
There is a video of my presentation here. Unfortunately the Powerpoint slides the accompany the talk are not visible. A better multimedia presentation is planned for the future.
Posted by: Peter K. Austin | July 19, 2008 12:00 AM