SIL International, previously the Summer Institute of
Linguistics, has for over 50 years
investigated the world's lesser known
languages, many of which are spoken in pre-literate societies. Because the people who speak these languages frequently live in social and and economic isolation, the research most often is conducted among the poorest of the world's
poor.
In the
pursuit of
studying these undocumented
minority languages, many
disciplines are brought to bear, particularly linguistics and
anthropology. So far, SIL has
investigated 1320 languages, spoken by 350 million people in more than 50 countries. SIL does not stop with
recording and analyzing languages, but is also engaged in
literacy programs under the sponsorship of local, regional and national organizations. They provide linguistic
training and develop
projects in
community service.
In addition to the usual activities of researchers in linguistics, SIL is also interested in ethnomusicology, where they not only document the musics around the world, but also
promote the use of
indigenous music in the
context of contemporary society.
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Source: http://www.sil.org/sil/