Goal of the project: Digitization, archiving and sharing the voice recordings form Mesoamerica on a virtual platform.
Various anthropologists and linguists from German-speaking countries have stored their recorded research material of different indigenous languages of Mesoamerica (Maya, Itzá, Mopan, Lacandon, Tzotzil, Mixtec, Otomí, Nahuat) on analog media (about 300 hours). This audio material from 40 years of research (1960 – 2000) is not accessible and in danger of decay. This project will secure the material in digital form and make it accessible for further research on a virtual platform. After digitizing and adding metadata to the material, workshops are organized with native speaker in Mexico to share the material to indigenous communities of origin. In close cooperation with native speakers from different sectors of the society, legal questions on personal rights are discussed and digital access is designed accordingly. The transcription and translation of selected recordings will be realized and questions for further use clarified.
Duration of the project: Mar 2019 – Feb 2021
Institutional affiliation: Leibniz-Centre General Linguistics (ZAS)
In cooperation with CLARIN D Centre and UNAM CEPHCIS.
With the support of the Gerda Henkel Stiftung.
Project coordinators:
Dr. Harald Thomaß
Freie Universität Berlin
harry@harald-thomass.de
Dr. Barbara Blaha Pfeiler
UNAM CEPHCIS, Mérida
bpfeiler@prodigy.net.mx
