On the Role of New Technologies in the Documentation and Revitalization of Uralic Languages of Russia in Historical and Contemporary Contexts

Alexander Nazarenko


Abstract
The Uralic languages spoken in Russia face significant challenges due to historical and sociopolitical factors, resulting in their endangered status. While only Finnish, Estonian, and Hungarian enjoy solid support as official languages, most Uralic languages suffer from limited resources and declining speaker populations. This paper examines the development of written Uralic languages, the impact of Russian language and its writing system to them, and the consequences of the lack of state interest in these languages for preservation efforts. Despite these challenges, technological advancements present valuable opportunities for revitalization. Existing projects, such as dictionaries and language corpora, highlight both the potential and shortcomings of current linguistic resources. Innovative approaches, including AI-based applications and user-driven platforms, can enhance engagement among people. By emphasizing the importance of high-quality linguistic data, this study advocates for a more proactive and collaborative effort in the preservation and promotion of Uralic languages.
Anthology ID:
2024.iwclul-1.14
Volume:
Proceedings of the 9th International Workshop on Computational Linguistics for Uralic Languages
Month:
November
Year:
2024
Address:
Helsinki, Finland
Editors:
Mika Hämäläinen, Flammie Pirinen, Melany Macias, Mario Crespo Avila
Venue:
IWCLUL
SIG:
SIGUR
Publisher:
Association for Computational Linguistics
Note:
Pages:
109–114
Language:
URL:
https://aclanthology.org/2024.iwclul-1.14
DOI:
Bibkey:
Cite (ACL):
Alexander Nazarenko. 2024. On the Role of New Technologies in the Documentation and Revitalization of Uralic Languages of Russia in Historical and Contemporary Contexts. In Proceedings of the 9th International Workshop on Computational Linguistics for Uralic Languages, pages 109–114, Helsinki, Finland. Association for Computational Linguistics.
Cite (Informal):
On the Role of New Technologies in the Documentation and Revitalization of Uralic Languages of Russia in Historical and Contemporary Contexts (Nazarenko, IWCLUL 2024)
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PDF:
https://aclanthology.org/2024.iwclul-1.14.pdf