A Filmic Language Documentation of Nez Perce and Sahaptin Project Summary

FAIN: FA-52146-05

Phillip E. Cash Cash
Arizona Board of Regents (Tucson, AZ 85721-0073)

Nez Perce and Sahaptin, two severely endangered sister languages, are currently spoken by only 1.6% of the total indigenous population. The impact of language shift in these two speech communities is leading to the loss of dialectical and cultural diversity and ultimately to the loss of the languages themselves. A timely and urgent need exists to capture on film the naturally occurring speech of the few remaining fluent Nez Perce and Sahaptin speakers before their languages “fade away.” This filmic language documentation project addresses this urgent need and proposes to create a comprehensive record of the linguistic practices of fluent Sahaptian speakers using digital video technologies.