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 up to twelve months. At least half the available funding will be awarded to projects involving fieldwork.
All DEL applications are submitted to NSF for review. Upon completion of the review process, the administration of awards is conducted separately by NEH or NSF.
The Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) participates in DEL as a research host, a non-funding role.
NEH awards from 2008 and 2009 are available at:- www.neh.gov/news/awards/preservationFeb2008.html and
- www.neh.gov/news/awards/preservationFeb2009.html.
For NSF awards see www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=12816.
Announcements of awards from 2005-2007:
- www.neh.gov/news/archive/20050505.html
- www.neh.gov/news/archive/20060710.html
- www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=109583
Sample Applications:
- NEH fellowship: Stephen Martlett, “Documenting the Me'phaa Genus” (18-page PDF).
- NEH grant: Monica Macaulay and Laura Welcher, University of Wisconsin, “Potawatomi Documentation, Lexical Database, and Dictionary” (17-page PDF).
- NSF doctoral dissertation award: Scott DeLancey/ Tam Nguyen, University of Oregon, “A Bih/Rade/English/Vietnamese Dictionary” (11-page PDF).
- NSF grant: Sadaf Munshi, University of North Texas, “Archive of Annotated Burushaski Texts” (15-page PDF).