Documenting Minority Languages of Nusa Tenggara Timur

The Workshop on Documenting Minority Languages in Nusa Tenggara Timur was held 7-13 May 2018 in Kupang, NTT at the Universitas Kristen Artha Wacana (UKAW). The goal of the workshop was to provide practical training in language documentation for people from Nusa Tenggara Timur with an interest in their local and regional languages, and have the potential to play a major role in documenting these languages. In addition to classroom study, the workshop included three days of field study by eight different teams. These teams visited Desa Bolok (Bahasa Helong), Nekmese and Burain (Bahasa Uab Meto), Pukdale (Bahasa Termanu), and Rote (Bahasa Thie and Bahasa Lole). In addition, Bahasa Abui was studied with Abui speakers living in the Kupang area, and Bahasa Sar was studied with a speaker who was visiting from Pantar. The documentation deposited here was compiled in a single day on 13 May 2018 and as such should not be considered to be final products. Still, these data demonstrate the enormous potential of well-trained local documentation teams to complete professional quality documentation in a relatively short amount of time. One of the greatest challenges for documentary linguistics is the lack of capacity, especially in regions were language endangerment is most severe. It is our hope that the workshop participants will continue in their efforts to document local languages and preserve the rich linguistic heritage of NTT.

This workshop would not have been possible without the assistance of many people. We would especially like to thank UKAW for hosting the workshop and providing meeting space on campus. We are indebted to the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research and the United States National Science Foundation for providing the funding which made this workshop possible. And we thank the Language Documentation Training Center at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa for providing equipment and training modules. Finally, we express our greatest thanks to the speakers and language communities in NTT for sharing their homes and the languages with the workshop participants.

2018年5月7日至13日，东努沙登加拉省（Nusa Tenggara Timur，简称NTT）少数语言记录研讨会于该省古邦市的阿尔塔瓦查纳基督教大学（Universitas Kristen Artha Wacana，简称UKAW）举办。本次研讨会的目标是为东努沙登加拉省内有志于保护本土及区域语言的人群提供语言记录实操培训，使其有能力在上述语言的记录工作中发挥核心作用。除课堂教学外，研讨会安排了8支调研团队开展为期三日的实地调研：各团队分别走访了使用赫龙语（Bahasa Helong）的博洛克村落、使用乌阿布梅托语（Bahasa Uab Meto）的内克梅塞与布拉因村落、使用特马努语（Bahasa Termanu）的普克达尔村落，以及使用蒂耶语（Bahasa Thie）与洛莱语（Bahasa Lole）的罗特岛区域；此外，团队还与居住在古邦地区的阿布伊语（Bahasa Abui）使用者完成了语言记录工作，并与来自潘塔尔岛的访客萨拉语（Bahasa Sar）使用者开展了相关调研。本处收录的语言记录素材于2018年5月13日单日整理完成，因此不应被视为最终成品。尽管如此，这批数据仍展现出经过专业培训的本土记录团队，能够在相对较短的周期内完成专业级别的语言记录工作。记录语言学面临的最大挑战之一便是专业能力匮乏，尤其在语言濒危问题最为严峻的地区。我们衷心希望本次研讨会的参与者能够持续推进本土语言的记录工作，守护东努沙登加拉省丰富的语言文化遗产。

本次研讨会的顺利举办离不开多方协助。我们首先感谢阿尔塔瓦查纳基督教大学（UKAW）为本研讨会提供校园会议场地与主办支持；由衷感谢荷兰科学研究组织与美国国家科学基金会提供的经费支持，使得本次研讨会得以举办；同时感谢夏威夷大学马诺阿分校语言记录培训中心提供的设备与培训模块。最后，我们谨向东努沙登加拉省的语言使用者与语言社群致以最诚挚的谢意，感谢他们向研讨会参与者开放居所并分享自身的语言文化。