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.
Mary Chambers
From Ranongga Island, Solomon Islands. Over 150 audio recordings, with written texts, elicitation, and fieldnotes covering traditional and personal st...
Videography-Based Documentation of Kere (Papua New Guinea) in Sociocultural Perspective
Andrea Berez
Kere is a Chimbu-Waghi language of Simbu Province, Papua New Guinea....
Radu Voica
Documentation of Blablanga, an endangered and undescribed Oceanic language with about 1800 speakers on Santa Isabel, in the Solomon Islands....
Ersu: Documentation of an Endangered Language of South-West China
Katia Chirkova
Documentation of Ersu, a member of the Qiangic subgroup of the Tibeto-Burman language family....
Lizu: Documentation of a Highly Endangered Language of South-West China
Katia Chirkova
Documentation of Lizu, a language that is spoken by approximately 7,000 people along the banks of the Yalong and Nyag-Chu rivers in China....
Duoxu: Documentation of a Critically Endangered Language of South-West China
Katia Chirkova
Documentation of Duoxu (多续 or 多须), a little-known and virtually undescribed Tibeto-Burman language, spoken in Mianning county....
Yan-nhaŋu Language Documentation
Claire Bowern
Conversation, translation, elicitation and narration recorded in 2007 in the Northern Territory, Australia. Includes over 140 media files, some transl...
The Endangered Papuan Languages of Merauke-Indonesia: ethnobiological and linguistic documentation
I Wayan Arka
Ethnobiological documentation of the Papuan languages Marori and Smärky Kanum....
Xumi: Documentation of a Highly Endangered Language of South-West China
Katia Chirkova
Studies of two language clusters of multi-ethnic and multi-lingual western Sichuan: (1) Ersu, comprising the mutually unintelligible Ersu, Duoxu, and ...
Recording and archiving Barayin (Jalkiya) language data
Joseph Lovestrand
Documentation of Barayin, a Chadic language of Chad....
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