Indigenous languages of the Americas
Let an agent handle Indigenous languages of the Americas by family, community, vitality and revitalisation, respectfully and with community sources first.
Research draft, second pass
A second pass drafted this model: the structure a model of this thing needs, and what is known about it in the world. The line under this one says how the second half was obtained - researched against sources, or recalled without web access, in which case nothing here was read anywhere and every claim is a lead to verify. Unreviewed either way.
written by Claude from model knowledge without web access - no source was read, every claim is a lead to verify
Researched by: Claude
Purpose and description
Let an agent handle Indigenous languages of the Americas by family, community, vitality and revitalisation, respectfully and with community sources first.
The languages spoken by Indigenous peoples of the Americas, from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, comprising many families and isolates such as Quechuan, Mayan, Uto-Aztecan, Tupian and Algonquian, many of them endangered.
What it is for: Languages of communities, carrying knowledge, identity and heritage.
It can be learn from community-approved resources; support revitalisation programmes; use correct names and autonyms; respect rights over language materials.
Distinguishing features
Very high linguistic diversity
Many families and isolates
Many endangered
Community rights over language data
What it looks like
Spoken, signed and written languages with many scripts and orthographies.
Physical character
number of languages: roughly 1000 languages - estimates vary by counting
language families: over 100 including isolates families - classifications vary
How it is recognised
Family and language names, preferably autonyms
ISO 639-3 codes
Extinct languages such as Ciguayo are known from records
Related models
is a kind of - category
is spoken by - communities
is protected by - law
is documented in - records
In practice
Families and kinds
Quechuan and Aymaran
Mayan
Uto-Aztecan
Tupian
Algonquian and Athabaskan
isolates
Identifiers
ISO 639-3 three-letter codes individual languages
Glottocode Glottolog identifiers languages and families
Standards and regulation
UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Article 13
International Decade of Indigenous Languages 2022-2032
National language laws
Failure modes and hazards
Using outdated or offensive names
Extracting language data without consent
Treating families as single languages
Also called
+336
Where this came from
wikidata · CC0 1.0
Drafted structure
Bundle to layer to finding to question, as the second pass will find it: 4 bundles · 8 layers · 8 findings · 16 questions.
Classification Which language.
Families differ.
Family
Genetic grouping.
Family
Language family.
- Which family does the language belong to, under which classification? provenance
- Is the grouping disputed? boundary
Names
Autonyms.
Names
Names.
- What do speakers call their language? provenance
- Which names are outdated or offensive? boundary
Vitality Endangerment.
Many languages are endangered.
Speakers
Numbers.
Speakers
Speaker numbers.
- How many speakers, according to which census or survey? measurement
- Are children learning it? boundary
Status
Endangerment level.
Status
Endangerment.
- What is its vitality status? provenance
- Which scale is used? definition
Revitalisation Support.
Communities lead revitalisation.
Programmes
Schools and nests.
Programmes
Programmes.
- Which community-led programmes exist? provenance
- How can they be supported? action
Learning
Resources.
Learning
Learning resources.
- Which learning resources are community-approved? provenance
- Is there a standard orthography? definition
Rights Language and data.
Communities have rights.
Law
Official status.
Law
Legal status.
- Does the language have official or protected status? provenance
- Where? provenance
Data
Consent.
Data
Data sovereignty.
- Did the community consent to use of recordings or texts? boundary
- Which protocols apply? provenance
What the second pass must settle
- Should each family be a separate entry?
- How should autonyms be prioritised?
- How should community data rights be represented?