Anna Luisa Daigneault

(she / her)

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Anna Luisa Daigneault is a PhD student in linguistic anthropology at Université de Montréal. Her research interests are at the intersection of endangered language documentation, language technology and artificial intelligence. Her heritage is Québécois and Peruvian, and she has conducted extensive fieldwork throughout Latin America, where she worked closely with many Indigenous community activists who are at the forefront of language revitalization. Before starting her doctorate, she worked for National Geographic’s Enduring Voices project, and was also Program Director for Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languages, a US-based non profit research organization. Her articles about language endangerment have been published by The Dominion, Global Voices, SAPIENS, and she has presented at TEDxGreensboro. Currently a research assistant at the Laboratoire d’anthropologie sur les mouvements sociaux et les initiatives populaires (LAMI) at Université de Montréal, Daigneault contributes to background research, translation and event promotion. She also serves on the board of Art+Feminism, a nonprofit that seeks to bridge the gender gap on Wikipedia.

Experience

  • –present
    PhD Student in Linguistic Anthropology, Université de Montréal
  • 2025–present
    Auxiliaire d'enseignement, Université de Montréal
  • 2018–2024
    Program Director, Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languages
  • 2011–2017
    Development Officer, Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languages
  • 2009–2010
    National Geographic: Enduring Voices Project, Anthropologist
  • 2005–2007
    Fundraising Coordinator (for Humanitarian Aid), Public Outreach

Education

  • 2010 
    Université de Montréal, M.Sc
  • 2005 
    McGill University, B.A.

Publications

  • 2025
    Co-author, Daigneault, Anna Luisa, and Anderson, Gregory D. S. (2025). Citizen Linguists and Decolonial Lexicography: Co-creative Dictionary-building in Grassroots Digital Language documentation. In Lachler, J. (ed), Proceedings of the 8th Workshop on the Use of Computational Methods for the Study of Endangered Languages (ComputEL-8), Honolulu, Hawaii.
  • 2024
    Co-author, Andrason, A., Daigneault, A. L., Hendrix, M., Pizzitola, R., & Somu, A. (2024). A Living Database of Conative Animal Calls. Salem, OR: Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languages. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.12724966
  • 2023
    Co-author, Anderson, Gregory D. S., and Daigneault, Anna Luisa. (2023). Linguistic Human Rights, Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languages and the Rise of the Multilingual Internet. In T. Skutnabb-Kangas and R. Phillipson (eds.) The Handbook of Linguistic Human Rights. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley-Blackwell, pp. 623-638.
  • 2023
    Co-author, Daigneault, Anna Luisa, and Anderson, Gregory D. S. (2023). Living Dictionaries: A Platform for Indigenous and Under-Resourced Languages. Dictionaries: Journal of the Dictionary Society of North America 44(2), 57-74. https://doi.org/10.1353/dic.2023.a915065
  • 2022
    Lead author, Daigneault, Anna Luisa. (2022). The legacy of Chile's last Yaghan speaker lives on. Global Voices. Retrieved January 25, 2024. https://bit.ly/last-yaghan-speaker
  • 2021
    Co-author, Anderson, Gregory D. S., and Daigneault, Anna Luisa. (2021). Living Dictionaries: An Electronic Lexicography Tool for Community Activists. In Kosem, I., Cukr, M., Jakubíček, M., Kallas, J., Krek, S. & Tiberius, C. (eds.) 2021. Electronic lexicography in the 21st century. Proceedings of the eLex 2021 conference. 5–7 July 2021, virtual. Brno: Lexical Computing CZ, s.r.o.
  • 2021
    Lead author, Daigneault, Anna Luisa. (2021). Names are Power: Let’s Talk about Decolonizing Bird Names. Birds Connect Seattle (formerly The Seattle Audubon Society). Retrieved July 3, 2023. https://bit.ly/bird-names-article
  • 2019
    Lead author, Daigneault, Anna Luisa. (2019c). Witnessing an Endangered Puberty Ritual. SAPIENS Magazine. Retrieved May 15, 2023. https://www.sapiens.org/body/puberty-ritual/
  • 2019
    Lead author, Daigneault, Anna Luisa. (2019b). Museums of the Mind: We Should Preserve Endangered Languages. Global Voices. Retrieved May 15, 2023. https://bit.ly/museums-of-the-mind
  • 2019
    Lead author, Daigneault, Anna Luisa. (2019a). How to Resurrect a Dying Language. SAPIENS Magazine. Retrieved May 15, 2023. https://www.sapiens.org/language/language-revitalization/
  • 2019
    Translator, Huenuñir Antihuala, María Ines. (2019). Mapuche Zomo. (A.L. Daigneault, translator). In Poems from the Edge of Extinction: An Anthology of Poetry in Endangered Languages (Chris McCabe, Ed.). London: Chambers.
  • 2014
    Lead author, Daigneault, Anna Luisa. 2014. Druids in Quebec: Ethnographic Fieldwork among Druids in Montreal. Groupe de recherche diversité urbaine, Centre d'études ethniques des universités montréalaises, Université de Montréal.
  • 2012
    Lead author, Daigneault, Anna Luisa. (2012) Hishuk ish Tsawalk: Everything is One. Recovering an Indigenous Language in Canada. The Dominion, Issue 82, April 2012. pp. 8-9.
  • 2010
    Lead author, Daigneault, Anna Luisa. (2010). An ethnolinguistic study of the Yanesha’ (Amuesha) language and speech community in Peru’s Andean Amazon, and the traditional role of Ponapnora, a female rite of passage. Thèses et mémoires, Faculté des Arts et Sciences (FAS), Département d’anthropologie, Université de Montréal. https://papyrus.bib.umontreal.ca/xmlui/handle/1866/4055

Grants and Contracts

  • 2025
    Bourse d'études autochtones (études doctorales)
    Role:
    Lead Researcher
    Funding Source:
    Université de Montréal (Faculté des arts et des sciences)
  • 2023
    Artist-in-Residence Grant
    Role:
    Lead Artist
    Funding Source:
    City of Greensboro
  • 2022
    Regional Artist Support Grant
    Role:
    Lead Artist
    Funding Source:
    North Carolina Arts Council
  • 2022
    Ishir Oral Literatures and Ecological Knowledge in the Paraguayan Pantanal
    Role:
    Collaborator
    Funding Source:
    Firebird Foundation
  • 2021
    Tutelo-Saponi Monacan Living Dictionary
    Role:
    Collaborator
    Funding Source:
    Native Voices Endowment
  • 2020
    Literary Engagement Grant for Stories of Endangered Language Activism
    Role:
    Lead Researcher
    Funding Source:
    PEN America
  • 2020
    Artist Support Grant
    Role:
    Lead Artist
    Funding Source:
    North Carolina Arts Council

Professional Memberships

  • Canadian Linguistic Association
  • Montreal Underdocumented Languages Linguistics Lab (MULL-Lab)
  • Laboratoire d’anthropologie sur les mouvements sociaux et les initiatives populaires (LAMI)

Contact Anna for

  • General
  • Media request
  • Speaking request
  • Consulting / Advising
  • Research collaboration
  • Research supervision