Narratives & Conversations in Tlingit (TLI) Northern Haida (HDN) & Tsimshian (TSI)

阿拉斯加东南部地区有三种土著语言：Tlingit (TLI), Northern Haida （HDN）和tsishian （TSI）。这三种动物都严重濒危。研究表明，在阿拉斯加大约1万名特林吉特人中，大约有200人说特林吉特语。北海达语在阿拉斯加有4人说得很流利，在加拿大可能还有10人。据估计，在阿拉斯加有15人能说一口流利的尖山语，在加拿大可能有500多人。虽然这三个群体有许多共同的文化特征，但这三种语言彼此无关，而且非常不同，特别是在词法和句法方面。这个项目由阿拉斯加遗产研究所（SHI）发起，是阿拉斯加和加拿大的研究人员和土著学者之间的合作，目的是研究三种语言流利者之间30小时的叙述和对话。这些将被转录和翻译，结果将以各种电子格式提供给研究人员和社区成员。这个项目的大部分数据来自30多年前的录音，这些录音来自上一代说英语的人，他们说母语比说英语更占优势。该项目的结果将是大大提高这三种濒危语言的文献的数量和质量。收集到的数据将立即用于SHI正在进行的所有三种语言的词典和课程开发项目。作为国际极地年的一部分，美国国家科学基金会已将濒危语言的文献记录作为其优先事项之一。这三种语言虽然是亚北极地区人民使用的，但可以为了解北极和亚北极地区的许多土著语言提供重要的见解，因此该项目是国际极地年期间将进行的濒危语言研究的重要组成部分。

There are three languages which are indigenous to the region of southeast Alaska: Tlingit (TLI), Northern Haida (HDN) and Tsimshian (TSI). All three are seriously endangered. Research shows that Tlingit is spoken by approximately 200 of the roughly 10,000 Tlingit people in Alaska. Northern Haida has four fluent speakers in Alaska, with perhaps another 10 in Canada. Tsimshian has an estimated 15 fluent speakers in Alaska, with perhaps 500 more in Canada. While the three groups share many cultural traits, the three languages are unrelated to one another and are quite distinct, especially in the areas of morphology and syntax.This project, by the Sealaska Heritage Institute (SHI), is a collaboration between researchersand indigenous scholars in Alaska and Canada to examine a 30 hours of narratives and conversations among fluent speakers in each of the three languages. These will be transcribed and translated, and the results will be made available to researchers and community members in various electronic formats. Much of the data for this project comes from recordings made 30 or more years ago with the last generation of speakers who were more dominant in their Native language than in English. The result of this project will be a vast increase the quantity and quality of documentation available for these three endangered languages. The data that are gathered will be immediately useful in SHI's on-going dictionary and curriculum development projects for all three languages.As part of the International Polar Year, NSF has made documentation of endangered languages one of its priorities. These three languages, although spoke by sub-Arctic peoples, can provide important insights for understanding many of the indigenous languages of the Arctic and SubArctic regions and therefore this project is an important part of the research on endangered langauges that will be performed during the IPY.