NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR HUMANITIES: Documenting Endangered Languages (DEL)

The Documenting Endangered Languages (DEL) program is a partnership between the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) to develop and advance knowledge concerning endangered human languages. Made urgent by the imminent death of an estimated half of the 6000-7000 currently used languages, this effort aims also to exploit advances in information technology. Awards support fieldwork and other activities relevant to recording, documenting, and archiving endangered languages, including the preparation of lexicons, grammars, text samples, and databases. DEL funding is available in the form of one- to three-year project grants as well as fellowships for six to twelve months. At least half the available funding will be awarded to projects involving fieldwork.