March 21, 2018
Lamkang villagers come together for a seminar and performances of traditional folk tales, dances and songs. The Lamkang language is traditionally passed down through stories, songs and lessons.
A UNT graduate student trying to save her disappearing language is getting some unique help in keeping it alive. Sumshot Khular, an Indian native from the northeastern state of Manipur, has worked with UNT linguistics professor Shobhana Chelliah and several other UNT students to create a writing system for the Lamkang language that will provide the community, students and researchers with access to the fascinating ways the language puts sounds and words together for communication. Lamkang is labeled as "critically endangered" since fewer than 10,000 speakers remain, according to UNESCO. The UNT team wants to change that with the Lamkang Online Lexical Database.
