RELISH: RENDERING ENDANGERED LANGUAGES LEXICONS INTEROPERABLE THROUGH STANDARDS HARMONIZATION

FAIN: HG-50010-09

Eastern Michigan University (Ypsilanti, MI 48197-2214)
Helen Aristar-Dry (Project Director: October 2008 to February 2013)

An effort to unify two digital collections of endangered languages with special attention given to harmonizing the European and American standards for language documentation and lexicon building.

When a lexicon constitutes the only record of a dying or already extinct language, it can contribute unique linguistic and cultural information to our store of scientific knowledge. And making it interoperable with other lexical data becomes a critical research priority. However, there still exist major barriers to lexicon interoperability. The most significant barrier is that standards-setting bodies have arrived at different standards for format and markup on the two sides of the Atlantic. The RELISH project will create an interoperable virtual archive by addressing a two-pronged problem: (1) the lack of harmonization between digital standards for lexical information in Europe and America, and (2) the lack of interoperability among existing lexicons of endangered languages, in particular those created with the Shoebox lexicon-building software.