Degree Department

Personal narrative about the 2022 Assam floods

Manjula Swargiary describes her experience during the 2022 Assam floods. The speaker is an assistant teacher with a HSLC education who speaks Assamese in addition to Boro. She is 48 years old at the time of recording. She talks about her experience going to school (her workplace) during the flood. She describes how her students would assist her in crossing the river and how the situation has deteriorated over time. She recalls her first job as a teacher, when her students assisted her in crossing a flooded area. She claimed they would form a chain on a shaky bridge to assist her in crossing it.
Date: September 1, 2022
Creator: Sonowal, Ria
Object Type: Sound
System: The UNT Digital Library

Planting rice paddies in Mazhing

Residents of Rolam village are cultivating this paddy in Mazhing, near Rolam village after a long absence of rain during the peak season of monsoon. Water for irrigation is allocated based on a lottery system. Conversations among the villagers and children can be heard in the background.
Date: June 1, 2022
Creator: Tshewang, Tashi
Object Type: Video
System: The UNT Digital Library

Planting rice paddies in Rolam village

Recording of people carrying paddy seedlings to their respective paddy fields in Rolam village in the Trashi Yangtse District of Bhutan. There is a shortage of water, so it is distributed equally amongst the paddy fields based on a lottery system. For this reason, some paddy fields are left without water, while others have plenty of water for rice plantation.
Date: June 1, 2022
Creator: Tshewang, Tashi
Object Type: Video
System: The UNT Digital Library
View of rice paddies in Mazhing captions transcript

View of rice paddies in Mazhing

View of rice paddies from Rolam Mazhing toward Thragom village. It is known as Mazhing 'main', meaning it is the main paddy for Rolam village. Conversations among the villagers and children can be heard in the background.
Date: June 1, 2022
Creator: Tshewang, Tashi
Object Type: Video
System: The UNT Digital Library

Retelling of the traditional story 'Hinglung racham'

This folk tale is about a war fought single-handedly by one man against one village. The narrator is from Maguilong village.
Date: February 1, 2022
Creator: Mataina, Wichamdinbo
Object Type: Sound
System: The UNT Digital Library

Retelling of the traditional story 'Zantiuu racham'

This folk tale is a in horror story. The story is about a man who visited the village of his parents-in-law and discovered they are human eaters (cannibals).
Date: April 1, 2021
Creator: Mataina, Wichamdinbo
Object Type: Sound
System: The UNT Digital Library

Interview about health practices

This is an interview about traditional health practices in the Lai community. The interviewee, born in 1986 is originally from Hakha and speaks Zophei, Senthang, Hakha, Falam, Kawl, and Mirang in addition to Lai. Interviews were collected as part of the Linguistically Underserved Communities and Health (LUCAH) project, which aims to make health information more accessible and culturally relevant for the Chin refugee community in order to ensure that they are getting clear and accurate information.
Date: March 1, 2021
Creator: unknown
Object Type: Sound
System: The UNT Digital Library

Interpretation of an Urdu poem on dowry system

This is a description of an Urdu poem, written by one of the speaker's relatives, on the dowry system prevalent in North India. The poem is in the Urdu language, and the speaker interprets it and explains its meaning and significance in Azamgarhi to the researcher.
Date: February 1, 2020
Creator: Shaikh, Maaz
Object Type: Sound
System: The UNT Digital Library

Performance of the folksong Abbā kē nadiā ‘The river of the father’ along with discussion.

This is a performance of a traditional song by the title Abbā kē nadiā (Eng. The river of father) followed by a discussion on the same. This folksong is sung on the occasion of rukhsatī 'the bride's departure to her husband's home after the marriage'. It describes the differences in the emotional attachment that a daughter has with her mother, father, brother, and sister-in-law. The folksong is in the Bhojpuri language, the mother tongue of Asiya Khatoon, whereas the discussion is in Urdu and somewhat in Azamgarhi.
Date: February 1, 2020
Creator: Shaikh, Maaz
Object Type: Sound
System: The UNT Digital Library

Performance of the folksong Bēṭī 'The daughter' along with discussion

This is a performance of a traditional song titled 'Beṭi' (Eng. The daughter) followed by a discussion on the same. This folksong is sung on the occasion of rukhsatī 'the bride's departure to her husband's home after the marriage'. It describes how differently the bride's blood-related family members—the mother, father, and brother—get strong memories of her absence. In contrast, the non-blood-related sister-in-law doesn't feel her absence at all—instead, she's glad that the bride left. In this, the daughters The folksong is in the Bhojpuri language, the mother tongue of Asiya Khatoon, whereas the discussion is in Urdu and somewhat in Azamgarhi.
Date: February 1, 2020
Creator: Shaikh, Maaz
Object Type: Sound
System: The UNT Digital Library

Performance of various folk songs along with discussions on them and some conversations

This is a recording of various folktales which begin with a short conversation. After completing the narration of a story, Mehar Afroz asks Qamar Afroz to stitch a cloth. After which, she asks Asiya Khatoon to sing some folksongs along with her, followed by a discussion on each of them. These kinds of traditional songs are sung on the occasion of girls' marriage, varying from praising the beauty of the beloved daughter to vidāī — the girl's farewell from their parental home. The songs in this recording are in the Eastern dialect of Urdu. The discussions on them and some other conversations take place in a mix of Azamgarhi and Urdu.
Date: February 1, 2020
Creator: Shaikh, Maaz
Object Type: Sound
System: The UNT Digital Library

Story of a prince and his stepmother

This is a story about a prince whose mother died and his stepmother would never like him. The story describes how she troubles him and never gives him good food to eat, but he was lucky enough to have the blessings of a miraculous cow and feed on her milk. Later on, when his stepmother realized this, she ordered that all cows be slaughtered. Still, the prince escapes along with the cow to a different country where he grows up in a healthy environment. After quite a few years, he returns to his village, reuniting with his father.
Date: February 1, 2020
Creator: Shaikh, Maaz
Object Type: Sound
System: The UNT Digital Library

Story of Paňkhiā Bādshāh

This is a story in the Eastern (Fatehpur) dialect of Azamgarhi about a king who once asks his seven daughters that from whose fate they eat. Six of them reply, “We eat because you give.” The seventh one refuses to accept this at any cost. Hearing this, the king gets furious and sends her to a jungle where she, fortunately, finds a good hut to live, meets Paňkhiyā Bādshāh (the king who appears on a swing of Punkah or fan). Finally, they both marry and live happily. Realizing this, her other sisters become jealous and poison her husband. Still, he is lucky enough to survive owing to his miraculous powers.
Date: February 1, 2020
Creator: Shaikh, Maaz
Object Type: Sound
System: The UNT Digital Library

Story of winters and springs

This is a story of a king who has seven children and once tells one of his children to bring a few things from the market. He instead brings a book that makes the king angry, and he evicts him. The son leaves the palace, goes to another village, and begins to stay there. He takes up a challenge and wins. The king gets pleased and marries his daughter with him. The prince then returns to his father’s kingdom, and the story continues. The story is recited by Asiya Khatoon, who is a Bhojpuri speaker hailing from Siwan district from Bihar, in (Eastern) Urdu. The researcher asks her maternal grandmother to interpret in Azamgarhi. She interprets in the Northern dialect.
Date: February 1, 2020
Creator: Shaikh, Maaz
Object Type: Sound
System: The UNT Digital Library
Conversation about the future of Chhitkul village captions transcript

Conversation about the future of Chhitkul village

Gangaa Devi and Amir Singh describe how they envision the future of Chhitkul village. The recording was made at their home, the Amar Guest House in Chhitkul village.
Date: November 1, 2018
Creator: Martinez, Philippe Antoine
Object Type: Video
System: The UNT Digital Library
Discussions about documenting and archiving languages captions transcript

Discussions about documenting and archiving languages

Video of one group discussion during the break-out session at the 2018 CoRSAL Symposium on Developing Infrastructure for a Computational Resource on South Asian Languages. Participants broke up into two groups to discuss various issues that emerge during the process of documenting and archiving languages.
Date: November 1, 2018
Creator: University of North Texas. Department of Linguistics.
Object Type: Video
System: The UNT Digital Library
Speech on information sharing and ethics captions transcript

Speech on information sharing and ethics

Video of a presentation explaining aspects of information ethics and how to ethically share information during an afternoon session of the 2018 CoRSAL Symposium on Developing Infrastructure for a Computational Resource on South Asian Languages.
Date: November 1, 2018
Creator: University of North Texas. Department of Linguistics.
Object Type: Video
System: The UNT Digital Library
Speech on linguistic fieldwork captions transcript

Speech on linguistic fieldwork

Video of the opening keynote session by James Mastioff on best practices for linguists when working with endangered languages during the 2018 CoRSAL Symposium on Developing Infrastructure for a Computational Resource on South Asian Languages.
Date: November 1, 2018
Creator: University of North Texas. Department of Linguistics.
Object Type: Video
System: The UNT Digital Library
Speeches on language resources for endangered languages captions transcript

Speeches on language resources for endangered languages

Video of the speakers in the morning session of the 2018 CoRSAL Symposium on Developing Infrastructure for a Computational Resource on South Asian Languages. The presenters detailed what language resources currently exist, their strengths and weaknesses, and what languages still require more documentation and archiving.
Date: November 1, 2018
Creator: University of North Texas. Department of Linguistics.
Object Type: Video
System: The UNT Digital Library
Transcription: Traditional story about Ruunu and the Squirrel by Farngam Shilshi (open access)

Transcription: Traditional story about Ruunu and the Squirrel by Farngam Shilshi

Transcription of a retelling of Ruunu leh theipaa paomin (The Story of Ruunuu and the Squirrel), as narrated by Farngam Shilshi. Ruunu collects figs in the forest and meets a squirrel, who asks for a ride in the fig basket. The squirrel eats all the figs, leaving only the skins, and Ruunu curses
Date: September 1, 2017
Creator: Lamkang Literature and Education Committee
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Transcription: Traditional story about She-frog and He-tiger (open access)

Transcription: Traditional story about She-frog and He-tiger

Transcription of a retelling of Uitxok nuu le humpii paa paomin (the Story of She-frog and He-tiger), as narrated by Rengting Shilshi. Monkeys lead a tiger to a she-frog, who threatens to eat the tiger. The tiger proposes that the two of them race, and that the winner eat the other. The frog rides on the tiger's tail and jumps off at the end, beating the tiger. The tiger proposes that they vomit to see who has eaten more meat. The tiger asks how it is that the frog vomits tiger fur, and she claims it is from all the tigers she has eaten. Frightened, the tiger flees. The story is collected during the LLEC workshop at Mantripantha Village.
Date: September 1, 2017
Creator: Shilshi, Rengting & Khular, Sumshot
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Transcription: Traditional story about the Boy and the Tiger (open access)

Transcription: Traditional story about the Boy and the Tiger

Transcription of a retelling of Buurling le humpii paa paomin (the Story of the Boy and the Tiger), as narrated by Kangten Shakhila. The elder brother's wife tells her husband to kill his younger brother. At first he just pretends to do so, and then he abandons his younger brother in a tree. There the younger brother meets a tiger who wants to eat fruit from the tree. The boy offers to feed the tiger but stabs him instead. [INCOMPLETE.]
Date: September 1, 2017
Creator: Chelliah, Shobhana Lakshmi
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library

Angela Tholung singing Lam loon laa "alam moh k'hei txooi e" during the Lamkang folk song competition at Thamlapokpi

Recording of Angela Tholung singing Lam loon laa "alam moh k'hei txooi e" during the Lamkang folk song competition at Thamlapokpi village on 1st January 2017.The video is taken by Sumshot and Tony Khular as part of the Firebird Foundation for Anthropological Research Project.
Date: January 1, 2017
Creator: Khular, Sumshot
Object Type: Video
System: The UNT Digital Library

Angshel Khular of M.Seljol singing 'Khungpaar Laa'

Angshel Khular of M.Seljol village singing the 'Khungpaar Laa.' Angshel is known for his expert trumpet plays amongst the Lamkangs. He is also a known laapuu and also a dancer. This recording was made in M.Seljol village as part of the Firebird Foundation for Anthropological Research work collection by Sumshot Khular.
Date: January 1, 2017
Creator: Khular, Sumshot
Object Type: Video
System: The UNT Digital Library