Tamale Hosts Wikimedians Conference on Preserving Indigenous Languages.

Language advocates and Wikipedia volunteers from across Ghana have gathered in Tamale for a three-day event titled the Ghanaian Language Wikimedia Meetup. The conference aims to review the group’s progress over the past year and develop strategies to further digitize and preserve indigenous and endangered languages.

Key Points:

• Conference Overview: The Ghanaian Language Wikimedia Meetup is taking place in Tamale, focusing on reviewing achievements and planning for the future digitization of Ghanaian languages.
• Global Context: With only 5% of the world’s more than 7,000 languages represented online and around 3,045 languages at risk of extinction each day, this initiative is crucial for linguistic preservation.
• Focus Languages: The conference emphasizes documenting languages such as Dagbanli, Ewe, Twi, Fante, Dagaare, Grunli, Kusaal, and Moore.
• Progress: Supported by the Wikimedia Foundation, efforts have successfully added Twi, Dagbanli, Kusaal, Ewe, and Fante to Wikipedia, with more languages in development.
• Mission Statement: Sadik Shahadu, Executive Director of Dagbanli Wikipedia, highlighted the importance of their mission, stating, “Our goal is to prevent the extinction of major Ghanaian languages by documenting them online.”
• Future Goals: The conference is expected to generate new ideas and collaborative strategies to enhance the digital presence and preservation of Ghanaian languages, ensuring their continuity for future generations.

This gathering aims to foster a deeper understanding of Ghana’s linguistic heritage while ensuring its preservation and accessibility in the digital age.