The Rosetta Project Is Preserving Every Language Ever Spoken, On One Nano-Etched Piece Of Metal

A project of the Long Now Foundation, the aim is to make sure we preserve the knowledge contained in dying languages: “If languages are our how-to guides for living on planet Earth, we are handing our descendants an encyclopedia with almost all of the pages ripped out.” The Long Now Foundation–currently breaking ground in Texas at the future site of its first monument-sized 10,000-year clock –is pursuing several programs in addition to the clock. One of these, the Rosetta Project, takes as its daunting mission the documentation of every human language currently in use; some 7,000 in total, the majority of which are in danger of disappearing without a trace. Directing this ambitious venture is Laura Welcher, a linguist who has specialized in building archival resources for indigenous North American languages.

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The Rosetta Project Is Preserving Every Language Ever Spoken, On One Nano-Etched Piece Of Metal