Technology Helps Preserve Endangered Indigenous Languages科技助益濒危土著语言保护

From smartphone apps to web tools， tribal members are using tech to document and practice their native languages.

从智能手机应用程序到网络工具，部落成员们正在利用科技手段记录和练习他们的母语。

Of the 574 federally recognized Native American tribes， only 139 of them still have speakers of their native language， and more than 90% of those languages are at risk of becoming extinct by 2050.

在联邦政府承认的574个美洲土著部落中，只有139个部落的语言仍然有使用者，而其中90%以上的语言有在2050年前灭绝的危险。

In response to the threat of language loss， some Indigenous tribes are turning towards accessible technology to save and revitalize their languages.

为应对语言消亡的威胁，一些土著部落开始利用简便易行的科技手段来拯救和复兴自己的语言。

The computers in our pockets

口袋中的电脑

When Keegan Livermore， a member of the Yakama Nation1， learned that there were only a couple dozen fluent speakers of Ichishkíin—a language spoken by the Yakama， the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation， and the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation—he felt a responsibility to learn the language himself.

当亚卡马部落的成员基根·利弗莫尔得知能够流利使用伊奇什基恩语的只有几十个人时，他觉得自己有责任学习这门语言。伊奇什基恩语是亚卡马部落、沃姆斯普林斯印第安人居留地联盟部落、尤马蒂拉印第安人居留地联盟部落使用的语言。

While attending a technology panel during a linguistic education workshop， Livermore’s group discussed how language tools could be made more accessible to young people.

在一次语言教育研讨会期间，利弗莫尔参加了科技专题组的讨论，大家探讨了如何使语言工具更便于年轻人使用。

“We’ve already had computer keyboards，” Livermore said. “If we’re thinking about how to get teenagers and college students to use it， why not make a phone keyboard？”

“我们已经有电脑键盘了。”利弗莫尔说，“如果我们想让青少年和大学生使用伊奇什基恩语，为什么不开发手机键盘呢？”

Livermore， who at the time was studying linguistics and learning the Ichishkíin language at Heritage University on the Yakama Reservation， describes the process of creating an Android Ichishkíin keyboard as a four-day fever dream， working on his graduate studies during the day and coding the keyboard at night.

那时候，利弗莫尔正在亚卡马居留地的传承大学攻读语言学，同时也在学习伊奇什基恩语。他将开发伊奇什基恩语安卓键盘的过程比作一场持续4天的狂热之梦——他白天努力完成研究生课业，晚上进行键盘编码。

Written Ichishkíin has a 39-character alphabet， many of which are modified English characters. While Livermore could have created a modified English keyboard， he chose to create a keyboard strictly built for Ichishkíin， honoring the actual alphabet of the language.

伊奇什基恩语的文字有39个字母，其中很多是英文字母的变体。利弗莫尔本可以设计改良英文键盘，但是为了尊重伊奇什基恩语实际的字母，他选择为这门语言量身定制一款键盘。

Livermore and seven other Ichishkíin speakers then tested the keyboard in text messages and social media posts， modifying the placement of characters until the keyboard seemed optimized for Ichishkíin.

利弗莫尔和其他7位伊奇什基恩语使用者通过发短信和社交媒体发帖来测试键盘，不断改进字母排列，直至键盘与伊奇什基恩语几乎完美适配。

“I was really pushing myself to use it as often as I could，” Livermore said， which helped him build his confidence speaking the language. “It gives me a tether for the language.”

“我真是努力督促自己尽可能多地使用这款键盘。”利弗莫尔说，这也帮助他树立了说伊奇什基恩语的信心。“这款键盘让我与这门语言建立了连接。”

Livermore， who is now working on adapting the keyboard to iOS， envisions using phone keyboards as a way to assign homework in his own future language curriculum. An easy assignment could be a student texting him a couple sentences in Ichishkíin about what they did over the weekend or requiring a few texts a week between class “pen pals，” Livermore said. Those types of assignments inject the language in students’ everyday modern life—a key part of language revitalization.

目前，利弗莫尔正在努力改进键盘，以适应苹果公司开发的移动操作系统。他想象着将来在自己讲授的语言课程中，可以通过手机键盘来布置作业。利弗莫尔说，一项简单的作业可以是让学生用伊奇什基恩语编辑几句话发给他，说说自己周末做了什么；或者要求同班“笔友”之间每周互发几条伊奇什基恩语信息。诸如此类的作业能将伊奇什基恩语融入当代学生们的日常生活中，这是语言复兴的关键一环。

Because Ichishkíin speakers must have a grasp of vocabulary to read and type the language， Livermore’s keyboard isn’t an early education tool， but rather an accessible way to integrate practice into a learner’s daily life.

阅读和打字都需要伊奇什基恩语使用者掌握一定量的词汇，所以利弗莫尔开发的键盘并不是早期教育工具，而是将练习融入学习者日常生活的一种简易方法。

“It enables you to use what you already know，” Livermore said.

“它能够让你把自己已知的东西应用起来。”利弗莫尔说。

Filling in the gaps

填补空白

Along with keyboards and texting， help comes from teachers such as Tami Hohn， a southern Lushootseed lecturer at the University of Washington and member of the Puyallup Tribe.

除了键盘和短信，教师也是一大助力。塔米·霍恩就是其中一员，她是华盛顿大学南方卢舒特西德语讲师，也是皮阿拉普部落成员。

Lushootseed is a Salishan language spoken by Indigenous people in the Puget Sound region of Washington state. Hohn has taught the language both to children and adults， groups that require different educational approaches， she said.

卢舒特西德语是华盛顿州皮吉特湾地区原住民使用的语言，属萨利希语系。霍恩教授这门语言，学生有儿童也有成人，她说每个群体的教学方法不一样。

For children， Hohn developed a curriculum that uses a grammatical approach by breaking down sentences into individual words and syllable sounds. With adults， Hohn teaches an intellectual understanding of the language， one that is informed2 by history， culture， and meaning. An intellectual understanding of the language allows speakers to create their own thoughts through the language， not just string together vocabulary words.

针对儿童，霍恩开发了一门采用语法教学法的课程，将句子拆成一个个单词和音节。针对成人，霍恩启发学生把语言当作一种知识来理解，即理解富含在语言之中的历史、文化和价值，如此便可激发语言使用者以这种语言生成自己的思想，而不仅仅是将词汇表里的单词串联在一起。

For all language learners， Hohn said， language apps—such as phrase-to-picture matching games—can be a great way to practice the language in small moments， like waiting for an appointment or at the bus stop.

霍恩说，对所有语言学习者而言，语言学习应用程序——例如图文匹配游戏——可谓利用碎片时间练习语言的好方法，比如可在等待约会或等公交车的时候练习。

Lushootseed also has computer and mobile keyboards based on Unicode， but Unicode doesn’t always transfer across digital platforms such as email or various web browsers， making Lushootseed characters show up as odd boxes and nonsensical punctuation.

卢舒特西德语也有基于统一码的电脑键盘和手机键盘，但是统一码在电子邮件或各种网络浏览器等数字平台之间转换时经常出错，导致卢舒特西德语字母显示为奇怪的方框和无意义的标点符号。

“The support that we really need from [technology] companies is the fonts，” Hohn said. “We shouldn’t have to type in Unicode， we should be able to type anywhere.”

“我们真正需要（科技）公司提供支持的是字体。”霍恩说，“我们不该非用统一码不可，我们应该在哪儿都能用自己的语言输入文字。”

Lack of font support is one way Native languages are being forced into the past. Hohn believes tribes shouldn’t have to find a workaround to type in their language.

缺乏字体支持是土著语言客观上无法传播的一个原因。霍恩认为，部落成员就该用自己的语言输入，不应需要寻求变通的方法。

Preservation through audio

保存音频

According to Hohn， Lushootseed no longer has first-language speakers—people who grew up speaking fluently—so linguists only had access to the language through preserved writings and audio recordings. Recording and archiving audio files of elders or fluent speakers is another preservation tool that can provide a foundation to language revitalization.

据霍恩说，卢舒特西德语已经没有母语使用者，也就是从小流利说该语言的人，所以语言学家只能通过保存下来的文字和音频资料来了解这门语言。记录和保存年长者或流利使用者的音频资料是另一种可为语言复兴奠定基础的保护方法。

FirstVoices is a suite of web-based tools designed to help Indigenous people archive language information for teaching and preservation. The service provides tribes with a page where audio clips of words， phrases， stories， songs， and more can be uploaded and organized. The initiative， run by the First Peoples’ Cultural Council in British Columbia， also provides grants for communities working on language revitalization to compensate them for the time it takes to archive the audio.

“第一声音”是一套基于网络的工具，旨在帮助原住民保存语言信息以便教学和保护。这项服务为部落提供一个网页，用于上传和管理单词、短语、故事、歌曲等的音频片段。这项计划由加拿大不列颠哥伦比亚省第一民族文化委员会发起，还为致力于语言复兴的社区提供经费，以补偿他们为保存音频花费的时间。

Daniel Yona， FirstVoices’ development manager， stressed that the service enables tribes to approach language documentation and revitalization as each community sees best fit by providing as many tools as possible for each tribe to customize their archive.

“第一声音”的开发经理丹尼尔·约纳强调，这项服务为每个部落提供了尽可能多的工具来定制他们的档案，从而使每个部落都能够以自己认为最适合的方式来记录语言，推动语言复兴。

FirstVoices now hosts 31 of the 34 indigenous languages in B.C.， as well as some Native American languages from the United States. Yona says that it’s not a goal to have all of the languages archived on FirstVoices， because the initiative is only one part of the multifaceted effort of language revitalization.

“第一声音”现在已记录不列颠哥伦比亚省34种土著语言中的31种，还记录了美国的一些美洲土著语言。约纳说，在“第一声音”上保存所有语言并不是他们的目标，因为这项计划只是为语言复兴所做的多方面努力的一部分。

“Just because they’re not on FirstVoices doesn’t mean they don’t have dictionaries and they’re not doing work in their own communities，” Yona said. “Technology is one piece of this bigger picture of language revitalization.”

“他们没有用‘第一声音’来记录语言并不意味着他们没有词典，或者他们没有在自己的社区开展工作。”约纳说，“在语言复兴的远大宏图上，技术只是其中一环。”

The threat of a long process

漫长过程的威胁

With the threat of language extinction looming， native language activists such as Hohn and Livermore feel a sense of urgency in everything they do. At the same time， language revitalization is a generational process.

随着语言灭绝的威胁逐渐逼近，霍恩、利弗莫尔等土著语言保护活动家对自己所做的一切都有一种紧迫感。但是，语言复兴是一个世代相传的过程。

“I will never see in my lifetime the state of language that I aspire to，” Livermore said. The Ichishkíin learners Livermore will teach will become better teachers than he is， and their students will pass on the skills to their descend-ants. Livermore foresees a language revival among future generations， but that doesn’t stop the pressure of needing to do as much as he can right now.

利弗莫尔说：“在我的有生之年，我不可能看到如我所愿的语言复兴状态。”利弗莫尔将来教的伊奇什基恩语学生会成为比他更好的老师，而他们的学生将来会把语言技能传授给他们的后代。利弗莫尔预计伊奇什基恩语将在未来几代人中复兴，但这并不能消除他的压力，他现在依然需要全力以赴。

“I feel that sense of urgency all the time，” Hohn said， but being patient in the face of a constant threat of language extinction is essential to successful revitalization. A limited number of Lushoot-seed teachers deeply understand the language. If teachers who do not understand the language in a cultural and historical way are pushed to teach as many people as they can in the name of revitalization， the language will still be reduced to grammar and vocabulary. That childlike understanding of Lushoot-seed， or any other native language， will be detrimental to the integrity and significance of the language， Hohn said.

“我时刻都有那种紧迫感。”霍恩说，但是在语言灭绝的持续威胁面前，保持耐心对语言的成功复兴至关重要。能够深刻理解自己所教语言的卢舒特西德语老师凤毛麟角。如果老师不能从文化和历史层面理解这门语言，却被迫以语言复兴的名义教授尽可能多的人，那么这门语言依然会沦为语法和词汇的堆砌。霍恩说，如此肤浅地理解卢舒特西德语或任何其他土著语言，不利于保持语言的完整，也有损于语言的意义。

“You have to have language with meaning or what’s the point？” Hohn said.

“你要传承的语言必须是有意义的，否则语言复兴还有什么意义？”霍恩说。

（译者为“《英语世界》杯”翻译大赛获奖者）

1北美印第安部落亚卡马生活在哥伦比亚河、亚基马河、韦纳奇河沿岸，即今日美国华盛顿州中南部地区。

2 inform使充满。