Now available: Sixth-generation contact German in South Africa: The case of Kroondal German

Authors: Sheena Shah, Theresa Biberauer & Erika Herrmann

A few hundred people living in a village named Kroondal in the North West Province of South Africa speak a variety of German. This new eBook describes and analyses Kroondal German, presenting extensive data from spoken, written, and social media sources, and includes audio recordings, maps, and illustrations.

... read more and download the eBook

EL Publishing

EL Publishing is a free, platinum open access publishing platform supported by an international Advisory Board and employing full double-blind peer review. We aim to publish eBooks, multimedia, and training material on documentation, description and support for minority and endangered languages. Read more...

We formerly published the journal Language Documentation and Description. From 2022 it is published by Aperio at the University of Virginia. Go to lddjournal.org for the current issue, all previous papers, and details of how to submit a paper.

eBooks

EL Publishing has produced a number of eBooks and is currently enlarging our catalogue with further innovative publications. EL Publishing is dedicated to broadening access of speakers, documenters, and supporters of endangered languages to publish in diverse genres, to reach a widely inclusive audience of academics, speaker communities, language enthusiasts, and the general public.

See our Information for Authors page for description of the types of materials we publish, authoring guidelines, and how to submit publication proposals.

Training for language fieldwork and documentation

EL Publishing, through its publications, staff, and workshops, has played a significant role in the formulation and development of methods, practices, and ethical considerations for those engaging with communities and speakers of endangered languages.

See our Training pages, Peter Austin's website, and browse the Language Documentation and Description catalogue for practical and theoretical guidance on topics from audio recording to reflections on ‘zombie linguistics’.

...go to the Training pages

Language Snapshots & Language Contexts

The Language Snapshots and Language Contexts series were created to broaden both authorship and readership on minority and endangered languages by encouraging early-career researchers and community members to develop shorter articles that provide more holistic, humanistic, and accurate information about communities, their places and their people, and the roles their languages play in their lives. Current research and revitalisation work is also highlighted.

See the Language Snapshots page and the Language Contexts page

Multimedia

In 2005 we published the first version of Hearing Voices, an innovative multimedia app featuring the work of audio artist John Wynne in collaboration with visual artist Denise Hawrysio and linguist Andy Chebanne, conducted with speakers of highly endangered Khoi and San languages in the Kalahari Desert in 2003. The app includes information about the communities and language speakers, photographs, and original song recordings and interviews with 8 speakers of 5 different Khoi and San languages.

See the Hearing Voices page for further information and to download the app.

EL Publishing has further multimedia publications in the pipeline.

EL Blog

EL Publishing's blog has regular articles on a range of topics of interest to all who are interested in languages large and small. Readers are encouraged to submit their own posts or comments for publication. ...go to the blog

Language Documentation and Description

Language Documentation and Description, after being founded here at EL Publishing and producing 21 volumes with over 200 papers, has moved to the University of Virginia. To download articles or make submissions go to www.lddjournal.org.

Supporting Web Publishing

We also provide web hosting and website maintenance to language organisations, including Top End Linguistic Circle and Australex.