Completion of Three Menominee (MEZ) Dictionaries

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The objective of this project is completion of a set of three dictionaries of the highly endangered Algonquian language Menominee. The Beginner's Dictionary will be for children and other learners, the Intermediate for speakers and advanced learners, and the Comprehensive for those audiences plus linguists and others interested in the structure and history of Menominee words. All three will be produced in paper and electronic formats; the latter will include sound files of words and example sentences. The work will contribute to ongoing language preservation efforts (for which materials are urgently needed), to our breadth of knowledge about Menominee and the Algonquian language family, and to work on related languages. The database template that the compilers have developed has been offered to tribal members and linguists working on similar projects, and is easily transferable to other dictionary databases. The project has been undertaken by linguists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison with the permission and guidance of the Menominee tribe, and was initiated at the suggestion of Menominee teachers and elders. One of the primary purposes is to create materials which will be useful to the tribe in its quest to revive and revitalize the Menominee language.