A Searchable Digital Archive of Western Apache Language Texts

FAIN: FN-50003-06

Willem J. de Reuse
University of North Texas (Denton, TX 76203-5017)

Western Apache is a Southern Athabaskan language mostly spoken on the San Carlos and White Mountain Apache Reservations in central eastern Arizona. The language is seriously endangered; few children acquire it. This project continues previously NSF-funded work on a Western Apache grammar and dictionary. The goal is to create a digital audio and written documentary text record of the language. The procedures recommended by the Electronic Metastructure for Endangered Languages Data (E-MELD) project will be followed. Easily accessible and published text material in Western Apache is scant, which is unfortunate considering the well-documented prominent position of Apache groups in the history and culture of the Greater Southwest. Existing collections will be integrated with texts collected by the project director to construct a database. Each text in the database will have a line of transcription using a consistent spelling system along with the original spelling; a morphological analysis; and notes on grammatical, lexical, and ethnographic points of interest. Audio will be time-aligned with transcriptions. The project will facilitate access to the texts for the Apaches themselves as well as for linguists and other scholars. (Edited by staff)