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

USask Rhodes Scholar to pursue passion for plant science at Oxford

USask biology student Rachel Andres is making plans to continue her love of plant science research at the University of Oxford

Two new Rhodes Scholars make USask history

Biological sciences student Rachel Andres is one of two USask recipients selected for the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship

USask, City of Saskatoon partner to fight housing insecurity

USask economics researchers and members of the Saskatoon Fire Department are looking to develop solutions to issues of housing insecurity and homelessness