What is language infrastructure?

Short Answer #

Language infrastructure consists of the systems, resources, processes, and tools that help communities preserve, organize, manage, share, and grow language knowledge over time.

Expanded Answer #

When people hear the word infrastructure, they often think about:

• Roads
• Water systems
• Buildings
• Telecommunications

These systems support communities and make other activities possible. Language infrastructure serves a similar purpose. Examples include:

• Recordings
• Dictionaries
• Archives
• Educational resources
• Metadata systems
• Governance frameworks
• Digital repositories
• Language platforms

Language infrastructure creates the foundation upon which language revitalization activities can grow. Without infrastructure, language resources often become fragmented and difficult to use. With infrastructure, every investment can continue creating value for future generations.