The Endangered Language Archive (ELAR) is a digital repository preserving and publishing endangered language documentation materials from around the world. The materials we hold are digital, and are freely available (after free registration).
ELAR was originally funded by Arcadia
and is part of the Library
of SOAS University of London.
Click a region above to view browsable collections. To see all collections, click 'Search' at the centre.
Videography-based documentation of the language of Parsis in Gujarat and Maharashtra
Anton Zykov
This is a comprehensive videography-based documentation of the Parsi language (Parsi Gujarati) through a text corpus with audio-visual recordings of n...
Language documentation with a focus on traditional culture among the Gavião and Suruí of Rondônia
Dennis Moore
The organizing idea of the project is that of a digital encyclopedia, consisting of recordings of topics of traditional culture, spoken in the native ...
Dehi of Aran and Bidgol: A Central Iranian Language
Alireza Hamidi Madani
Dehi of Aran and Bidgol: A Central Iranian Language Depositor: Alireza Hamidi Madani Documenting of Dehi Language and the cultural events and lifestyl...
Caijia: Cross-dialectal documentation of a highly endangered language in Guizhou Province of China
Lü Shanshan
The deposited data includes digital audio an video recordings covering various topics (narratives, folk songs, conversations, handcraft activities), p...
Recordings and texts from Ranongga, Solomon Islands
Debra McDougall
Documentation Luqa and Kubokota, two Austronesian languages Ranongga, Solomon Islands. Including a wide range of stories, interviews, and recordings o...
Revisiting the shared sign language of Providence Island
Rehana Omardeen
Documentation of the shared sign language of Providence Island as used by deaf and hearing signers through interviews, spontaneous conversation and el...
Connie Dickinson
Video recordings of the language and culture of the Waorani. Wao Terero is an under-documented and as yet unclassified language spoken by some 3,000 p...
Shangaji. A Maka or Swahili Language of Mozambique. Grammar, texts and wordlist
Maud Devos
Documentation of Shangaji, an endangered Bantu language spoken in the Nampula province of Mozambique....
Documenting Seenku (Mande, Burkina Faso) language and music, with special attention to tone
Laura McPherson
Audio and video recordings of spoken Seenku as well as the musical adaptation of Seenku, both through sung texts and instrumental surrogate languages,...
Documentation and sociophonetic description of the varieties of Yuhup spoken in Colombia
Lorena Orjuela
Documentation of the phonetic and phonological variation of three Yuhup varieties spoken in Colombia, focusing on the nomadic tradition and culture of...
Throughout the site you see ELAR's access protocol categories, like this: O U S . Materials marked as O U S can be accessed by anyone, even users who have not registered with ELAR. Materials marked as O U S can be accessed by any registered user of ELAR who has agreed to the Terms and Conditions of using ELAR. Materials marked as O U S are restricted in access, and registered users can apply for access to these resources.
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Why apply for an account?
Anyone can browse the ELAR catalogue of endangered language collections and can learn about the materials ELAR holds.
To listen and watch the recordings in the collections you need to register as a user and agree to the Terms and Conditions of using ELAR. Registration is free, and after registration all materials are openly accessible to you. Some sensitive materials require special access permissions, and as a registered user you can apply for access to these resources.
To apply for an account, you must provide your real name. We do not allow anonymous accounts or fictitious identities. Accounts for ordinary user access are automatically granted on application.
If you forgot your username or password, please contact elararchive@soas.ac.uk