Documentation of Salvadoran Nawat

Yek tunal! (Hello!)

My name is Casen and I am a linguistics student at the University of Georgia who plans to travel to El Salvador this summer to contribute to the documentation and preservation of the indigenous Nawat language.

There are currently between 80 and 100 native or partially fluent speakers alive, and little current literature describing the grammar of the language is available.

The focus of my project will be to collect data via speaker interviews that will help deepen our understanding of Nawat's internal structure as well as variation between sound systems found in different Nawat-speaking towns. This will later become useful for making the language easier to teach and to learn while preserving the unique phonetic properties of each dialect, both for children and grandchildren of remaining speakers and for any adult who wants to begin!

Right now, I have applied for funding from my university and am awaiting allocation of grant money, but the budget I have calculated for this trip slightly surpasses what they can offer me as an undergrad. That's where you come in!

To cover the remaining costs of lodging, food, and unforeseen incidentals (of which there will likely be a few), I have set a goal of $2500, and humbly invite you to contribute.

Please consider leaving a donation to keep this precious source of human diversity alive and well!

Thank you and ne nawat shuchikisa (let Nawat bloom)!