Background

Established in 1992.

Charge

The Committee on Endangered Languages and their Preservation (CELP) calls attention to the rapid loss of language diversity worldwide and encourages the documentation and study of endangered languages.

Responsibilities

The work of the Committee includes but is not limited to the following:

Membership (open)

At least 6 members, serving three-year terms.

Committee Structure, 2023

  • Senior Chair: Mizuki Miyashita, University of Montana
  • Junior Chair: Joseph Dupris, University of Colorado at Boulder
  • Student Representative: Martin Renard, University of Toronto
  • Executive Committee Liaison: Carmen Dagostino
  • Staff Liaison: Vy Le
  • Sub-committee Structure: Activism, Awards, Events, and Social Media; read more about each here
  • Complete list of previous Chairs

Activities

Symposia and Education

CELP regularly addresses methodology and ethics by planning and co-sponsoring events at the LSA’s Annual Meeting:

Activism

In recent years, CELP has worked with the LSA to issue a number of resolutions, statements, and endorsements:

CELP also initiated a letter-writing campaign in 2011 urging President Obama to sign a Draft Executive Order titled "White House Initiative on Native American Language Revitalization." The LSA works closely with the National Humanities Alliance to support humanities advocacy on behalf of funding for language documentation and revitalization.

Awards

The LSA promotes work on endangered languages by offering several awards:

Follow us!

CELP-Endorsed LSA Statements and Resolutions:

Resources

  • New Resource! Help Program for Endangered Language Legacy Collections 
  • Educational and funding resources that support the documentation and study of endangered languages can be found here.
  • For information about CELP's collaboration with the Society for the Study of the Indigenous Languages of the Americas (SSILA) in celebration of 2019 as the UN's International Year of Indigenous Languages, click HERE.

To Join the Committee on Endangered Languages and their Preservation, please contact the Secretariat staff, and cc the current CELP co-chairs.