To preserve endangered languages

To study the history of language

To create new languages

To translate languages

Descriptive, historical, and comparative

Oral, written, and electronic

Synchronic, diachronic, and typological

Lexical, grammatical, and phonological

Descriptive documentation focuses on the present state of a language, while historical documentation focuses on its past.

Descriptive documentation is written in the language being documented, while historical documentation is written in another language.

Descriptive documentation is typically carried out by native speakers, while historical documentation is typically carried out by linguists.

Descriptive documentation is more important than historical documentation.

Comparative documentation compares two or more languages, while historical documentation focuses on the history of a single language.

Comparative documentation is typically carried out by linguists, while historical documentation is typically carried out by native speakers.

Comparative documentation is more important than historical documentation.

Comparative documentation is only used for endangered languages.

Lack of funding

Lack of trained linguists

Lack of access to endangered language communities

Lack of standardized documentation methods

All of the above

Preserving endangered languages and their associated cultural knowledge

Helping linguists to understand the history of language

Providing resources for language revitalization efforts

Promoting linguistic diversity

All of the above

Obtaining informed consent from language speakers

Respecting the privacy of language speakers

Ensuring that language documentation is used for the benefit of language speakers

All of the above

Using standardized documentation methods

Working with native speakers

Documenting all aspects of a language

Storing language documentation in a safe and accessible place

All of the above

The Endangered Languages Project

The Living Tongues Institute

The National Science Foundation

The National Endowment for the Humanities

All of the above

Language documentation will become increasingly important as more languages become endangered.

Language documentation will become more standardized and accessible.

Language documentation will be used to support language revitalization efforts.

All of the above

The increasing number of endangered languages

The lack of trained linguists

The lack of funding for language documentation projects

The lack of access to endangered language communities

All of the above

The development of new technologies for language documentation

The increasing awareness of the importance of language documentation

The growing number of people interested in learning about endangered languages

The increasing support for language revitalization efforts

All of the above

Learn about endangered languages

Support organizations that are working to document endangered languages

Volunteer to help with language documentation projects

Encourage others to learn about and support language documentation

All of the above

Language documentation can provide resources for language revitalization efforts.

Language documentation can help to raise awareness of endangered languages.

Language documentation can help to create a sense of pride in endangered languages.

Language documentation can help to promote the use of endangered languages.

All of the above

The increasing amount of digital data

The lack of standards for digital language documentation

The lack of access to digital language documentation

The lack of training in digital language documentation

All of the above