Literacy Through the Web: The Chuxnabán Mixe Online Dictionary Carmen Jany California State...

Literacy Through the Web: The Chuxnabán

Mixe Online Dictionary

Carmen JanyCalifornia State University, San

Bernardinocjany@csusb.edu

This project Trilingual (Spanish/English/Mixe)

multimedia online dictionary Chuxnabán Mixe: Mexican

indigenous language spoken in one village in Oaxaca

Chuxnabán Mixe: Mainly spoken endangered language

This talk Chuxnabán Mixe: Language family,

Speakers, Materials, Orthography, Linguistic features

Web-based language documentation & maintenance

Chuxnabán Mixe Online Dictionary

Mixe Languages Mixe territory: 290 communities in Oaxaca,

19 municipalities Each community with a different variety Classification of Mixe varieties still unclear

due to limited sources of documentation Mixe-Zoque language family Mixe varieties differ mostly in their vowel

systems Very few published grammars and

dictionaries of the Mixe languages

Mixe Territory & Languages

San Juan Bosco Chuxnabán, Summer 2006

San Juan Bosco Chuxnabán, Summer 2006

Chuxnabán Mixe Previously undocumented Spoken by 900 people in one village No established orthography Endangered Language:

Education/Literacy in Spanish No literacy/educational materials No language documentation Migration to cities & the US Language ideology: Spanish/English represent

progress/economic growth

Orthography development Determine phonemes Check for other orthographies (grammars,

government) Use literacy background in Spanish Test with speakers

Challenges Vowel system Using keyboard symbols Phonemic vs. phonetic writing (i.e. voiced

stops allophonic only)

7 Vowel phonemes: /a, æ, e, i, o, u, / i ~ : tsip ‘war’ tsïp ‘plant name’

a ~ u: kam ‘field’ kum ‘sweet fruit’

æ ~ u: tsäk ‘dull’ tsuk ‘mouse’

o ~ u ~ : joon ‘bird’ juun ‘hard’

jïïn ‘fire’

Plain vs. Aspirated a/aa/(a)ah: pak ‘pigeon’ taak ‘mother’

paajk ‘bone’ taajk‘police’

ï/ïï/(ï)ïh: mïk ‘strong’ mïït ‘they went’

xïïjk ‘bean’ mïïjt‘year’

Vowel length (all short and long) o ~ oo: mox ‘stomach’ moox ‘knot’

a ~ aa: kam ‘field’ kaan ‘salt’

e ~ ee: kepy ‘tree’ keepy ‘bream’(fish)

Phonation contrasts Modal vowels (short and long): V, VV Aspirated vowels (short and long): Vh, VVh Glottalized vowels (short, interrupted): V, VV

Plain vs. glottalized a/a: täp ‘you have’ kä’p ‘scorpion’

u/ u: tsuk ‘mouse’ ju’k ‘owl’

ï/ï: mïk ‘strong’

mï’t ‘mother-in-law/father-in-law’

Plain vs. Interrupted

ii/ii: kiix ‘woman’ pi’ix ‘tail’

uu/ uu: puuy ‘seat’ pu’uy ‘table’

ï/ïï: tsïp ‘plant name’ tsï’ïp ‘plant whengetting cut’

Consonants: 15 phonemes p, t, k, m, n, x, ts, ch, j can be palatalized

Bilabial

Alveolar Palatal

Velar

Glottal

Plosives p t k (‘)

Nasals m n

Fricatives s, ʃ (x) h (j)

Affricates ts, tʃ (ch)

Rhotic r

Lateral l

Glides w y

Can internet technology help with literacy development & with the maintenance of Chuxnabán Mixe?

Web-based Language Documentation & Maintenance Recent explosion of web-based

technology reaching all parts of the world

Implications for language documentation and maintenance Materials can easily be made available

more widely for language learning and research

Implications for language documentation & maintenance con’t Online materials can help promote

literacy development for the mostly oral languages

Online materials assist the formation of a new type of literacy: Digital fluency(=>refers to the ways people become comfortable using technology)

Inexpensive & immediately accessible

Trilingual online dictionary: Goals (1) Describe the lexicon and grammar of

Chuxnabán Mixe (2) Create literacy materials in order to

facilitate language maintenance Three main components

a) Illustration & explanation of established orthography

b) Description of phonetics & phonology to facilitate pronunciation

c) Searchable trilingual dictionary database for searches in Mixe, Spanish, and English

Illustration/explanation of orthography Needed since users are literate in Spanish and/or

English, but not in Mixe Certain sounds represented in a unique way not

found in Spanish or English, given the complex vowel system

Main orthography page All letters of the alphabet; each letter opens a

link to another page with: a) Set of words where letter occurs in initial, medial, and

final position if applicable b) Set of sound files linked to sample words c) Additional explanations of how and why letter has

been chosen to represent the sound

Online Dictionary: Entry page & orthography page

http://flan.csusb.edu/~cjany/Mixe/

Description of phonetics & phonology Links to two tables with phonemes: vowels and

consonants Tables following International Phonetic Alphabet

Chart (IPA symbols) Notes & explanations where practical

orthography differs Each symbol linked to new page with sample

words and sound files Allophones, variations of a sound, included Tool may be less valuable for speakers, but

important feature for researchers and linguists (& teachers for pronunciation)

Online Dictionary: Sounds pagehttp://flan.csusb.edu/~cjany/Mixe/

phonemes/sounds.htm

Searchable Trilingual Dictionary Users search in English, Spanish, or in

Chuxnabán Mixe for a dictionary entry Target word appears with corresponding

two translations and is accompanied by a phonetic transcription

Each entry is also linked to an audio file and a picture (for culture-specific items)

Database can be searched by semantic category (plants, animals, food, etc) (for teachers and linguists examining word structures)

Online Dictionary Databasehttp://flan.csusb.edu/~cjany/Mixe/dictionary.htm

Why Spanish & English?Spanish is the second language in

the Mixe community and the official dominant language

English is the most accessible language to researchers worldwide and the first or second language of Mixes living in the United States

Target audiencesMixe community in OaxacaMixes living elsewhereLinguists working on MixeOther researchers

Possible additions Description of other parts of the

grammar (morphology and syntax) Sound files from multiple speakers for

each word Examples with entire sentences where

the target words are used Page with narratives, their transcriptions

and sound files, as well as explanations, if needed (video files of performance)

Learning modules, games for pedagogical purposes

Conclusions While web-based technology is becoming

widespread, indigenous languages are disappearing

Language maintenance efforts can benefit from more active use of web-based resources

Web‑based language materials give a voice to linguistically peripheral groups

Project promotes two types of literacy: (1) Traditional literacy linked to reading and writing (2) Digital fluency which is needed to prosper in the

digital age

Conclusions (con’t)Useful tool for speakers, teachers,

and researchersMultimedia facilitates the fast and

easy acquisition of informationProject aids literacy development

as well as digital fluency

Bibliography Campbell, Lyle, Terrence Kaufman, Thomas C. Smith-

Stark. 1986. Meso-America as Linguistic Area. Language, Vol. 62, No. 3. 530-570.

Crawford, John Chapman. 1963. Totontepec Mixe Phonotagmemics. Summer Institute of Linguistics, No. 8. University of Oklahoma.

De La Grasserie, Raoul. 1898 (reprint 1968). Langue Zoque et Langue Mixe: Grammaire, Dictionnaire. Biliothèque Linguistique Américaine, Tome XXII. Paris. (Reprint: Kraus. Nendeln, Liechtenstein).

De Quintana, Fray Augustin. 1733 (printed 1890). Confesionario en Lengua Mixe. Alençon.

Bibliography Hoogshagen Noordsy, Searle And Hilda Halloran

Hoogshagen. 1997. Diccionario Mixe de Coatlán Oaxaca. Summer Institute of Linguistics. 2nd edition (1st edition 1993). Mexico.

INEA (Instituto Nacional para la Educación del los Adultos). 1994. Ayuk Ja’jy Y’ayuujk. Libro del Adulto, Población Mixe (Parte Baja), Oaxaca.

INEA (Instituto Nacional para la Educación del los Adultos). 1997. Ayuk Ja’jy Y’ayuujk. Libro del Adulto, Población Mixe (Parte Alta), Oaxaca.

Ladefoged, Peter And Ian Maddieson. 1996. The Sounds of the World’s Languages. Blackwell, MA.

Bibliography Schoenhals, Alvin and Louise C. 1982. Vocabulario

Mixe de Totontepec. SIL. 2nd edition. Hidalgo, Mexico. Suslak, Dan. 2003. The Story of ö: Orthography and

Cultural Politics in the Mixe Highlands. Pragmatics 13:4. 551-563.

Thomas, Kimberly D. And Alan Shaterian. 1990. Vowel length and Pitch in Yavapai. Papers from the 1990 Hokan-Penutian Languages Workshop. Margaret Langdon ed. Carbondale, IL. 144-53.

Van Haitsma J. D. and Willard Van Haitsma. 1976. A Hierarchical Sketch of Mixe as spoken in San José El Paraíso. Summer Institute of Linguistics 44. Mexico.

Thank you!

¡Gracias!