Canary Academy Launches Digital Archive to Preserve Regional Dialect
The Canary Academy of the Language has launched the Corpus of Canarian Spanish, a digital sound archive designed to preserve the archipelago's unique dialect and cultural heritage through extensive oral recordings.
The Canary Academy of the Language (ACL) has taken a major step toward preserving the islands' cultural identity with the launch of the Corpus of Canarian Spanish (Corpecan). This digital platform is designed to protect the archipelago's oral heritage by creating a comprehensive sound archive. While the project began in 2006, it has seen significant progress since 2022, serving as a vital tool to ensure that local dialectal variations are not lost over time.
Recently presented in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria by ACL president Gonzalo Ortega, the project currently features 206 interviews. This initial phase focused on residents over the age of 55 living in rural areas across all 88 municipalities. The goal was to record natural, everyday speech covering topics ranging from local food to traditional crafts and festivals. Professor Marta Samper of the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria explained that these transcriptions will help expand the Basic Dictionary of Canarianisms while providing the public and researchers with direct access to how the language is actually spoken.
Supported by the regional government and the Cabildo of Tenerife, the project is now looking toward the future. A second phase will focus on younger speakers in urban areas, allowing researchers to compare generations and analyze how the Canarian dialect evolves based on social and environmental factors. The public is encouraged to get involved by visiting the project’s website, where they can contribute their own audio recordings or sign up to be interviewed.
In addition to this archive, the Academy is updating its General Dictionary of Canarian Spanish. Gonzalo Ortega expects this new edition to be available online within eight to ten months, featuring a significantly larger number of entries than the current version. This effort is supported by the new Digital Library of Canarian Spanish, which centralizes academic and literary works to make research easier for students and scholars. Through these initiatives, the Academy—founded in 1999—continues to highlight the importance of Canarian identity within the broader Spanish-speaking world.