Alt tag
USask students meet with locals in the village of Pijal, Ecuador.

Students visit Ecuador to preserve endangered language

Four linguistics students spent two weeks in Ecuador assisting with a dictionary project

News

Four University of Saskatchewan students spent two weeks in Ecuador in June to assist in compiling the first-ever dictionary of an endangered language called Media Lengua.

Olga Kriukova, Kristy Reyes, Adrián Estrada and Taliza Chavez lived and worked in the rural community of Pijal as they helped with a research project led by assistant professor of linguistics Dr. Jesse Stewart (PhD).

Media Lengua is still spoken by about 300 people in Pijal. The students worked with language consultants there to gather and translate more than 4,000 words for what will become the first published dictionary of Media Lengua.

The final dictionary will contain audio recordings and translations into Spanish, Quichua and English. It will be made available online and used as a resource by community members, researchers and members of the public.

After completing their work, the students toured the region and participated in Inti Raymi, the summer solstice festival.

The dictionary project is funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. Lodging, food and activities for the students were provided by Pijal’s community tourism centre, Sumak Pacha.


Related Articles

Queering the Classroom project aims to showcase student work, transform learning

Queering the Classroom is an open-access project from University of Saskatchewan (USask) Women’s and Gender Studies (WGST)

USask undergrad student puts community first in ecological research

Biomedical neuroscience undergraduate student Acagos Carriere wants to be known as a water protector

In conversation with the 2025 English Graduate Award Winners

Tricia Monsour and Owen Schalk share their amazing journeys