K. David Harrison
K. David Harrison, is a linguist, anthropologist, author, filmmaker, and activist for the documentation and preservation of endangered languages. Harrison has done documentary field work on endangered languages in Siberia and Mongolia including Tuvan, Tsengel Tuvan, Tofa, Chulym, Monchak, Munda, and also in Paraguay, Chile, Papua New Guinea, India, Micronesia and Vanuatu. He specializes in phonology, morphology, and in the study of language endangerment, extinction and revitalization, digital lexicography, and environmental linguistics.
He is a Professor of Linguistics teaching at Swarthmore College an Explorer at the National Geographic Society and a fellow of The Explorers Club. He serves as an Honorary Research Associate at the New York Botanical Garden. His early career research focused on the Turkic languages of central Siberia and western Mongolia. In 2006, Harrison created the first online "Talking Dictionary" a platform that has since expanded to cover 140+ indigenous languages. In 2007-2013, he co-directed the Enduring Voices Project at the National Geographic Society. In 2007, Harrison created the concept of "Language Hotspots", and published the first language hotspots list and map in National Geographic Magazine, a collaboration with linguist Gregory Anderson of the Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languages.
He co-starred in Ironbound Films' Emmy-nominated 2008 documentary film The Linguists. He serves as director of research for the non-profit Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languages, and has served on the boards of 7,000 Languages, and BeeLine Reader Inc.
Harrison's current research is on digital lexicography, and Environmental Linguistics in locations such as Vanuatu, Fiji, Mexico, and Siberia.Awards and honors
