ABOUT US
OVERVIEW
The Lannang Archives (formerly, The Chinoy Archives) is a nonprofit organization created to conserve Lannang heritage, with particular emphasis on languages. TLA comprises professionals and scholars who are interested in language and cultural hybridity and documentation (e.g. preservation, revitalization) from a Lannang perspective. It is committed to working with local communities as well as local and international organizations that uphold its advocacy. It does this by facilitating seminars, workshops, and training programs in collaboration with these organizations.
MISSION
To conserve Lannang heritage, particularly languages, across the Philippines to empower Lannang-heritage communities and greater Philippine society.
FACETS OF OUR MISSION
Awareness and relevance
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To increase the awareness of the emotive and cultural significance and relevance of Lannang languages and varieties within and beyond the Lannang communities, and consequently, spotlighting the Lannang heritage and identity.
Attention
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To highlight Lannang languages and other Sino-Philippine varieties to linguists, scholars, and enthusiasts as varieties worthy of scholarly investigation at par with other Philippine languages.
Understanding
03
To foster accurate beliefs and values about the Lannangs as well as the languages and varieties they speak among all Filipinos; to foster understanding of the need to protect the shared history between Lannangs and the Filipinos.
Development
04
To increase the rate at which Sino-Philippine, particularly Lannang, languages, varieties, and phenomena can be enhanced and developed such that it can be used in the full range of modern activities in and beyond the Lannang communities.
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The Lannangs gain an awareness of the existence, distinctiveness, and diversity of varieties in their communities.
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Non-Lannangs become aware of the existence of Lannangs.
PHASE 1 : Awareness
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The stigma attached to the Lannang varieties and languages, if any, are lessened within the community. Lannangs may or may not actively advocate these but still do not use them.
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Non-Lannangs acknowledge the value of Lannang (heritage) languages in society.
PHASE 2 : Appreciation
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Lannangs positively accept the existence, distinctiveness, and diversity of Lannang varieties. They use them increasingly.
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Non-Lannangs regard Lannang (heritage) languages as part of the greater Philippine cultural fabric.
PHASE 3 : Acceptance
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The robust use of the Lannang varieties expand beyond the home. The language is passed on to future generations.
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Non-Lannangs attempt to learn Lannang varieties and languages.
PHASE 4 : Application
VISION
Individuals with or without Lannang heritage using, developing, and/or actively investigating Lannang varieties and languages.
OUR HISTORY
Conserving Lannang heritage and language through the years.
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Empowering Lannang-heritage communities and greater Philippine society.
ORIGINS
An account of the organization's formative years from the perspective of the founder, Wilkinson Daniel Wong Gonzales.
It all started as a research initiative in 2017. Back then, The Lannang Archives was known as “Chinese Filipino Language Documentation Initiative” (http://lannangarchives.org/about-us). I created the Facebook group with the hopes of posting content related to Lánnang-uè. Starting out, I wanted to platform, but I did not have the following or means yet. I only knew that I wanted to make people, particularly the Lannang community, aware of their own unique languages.
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My first step of action was to create a post analyzing SoAsian Comic’s first comic: “the bo pa ba?” comic, where I argued that the “pa” and the “ba” are not Hokkien but actually Lánnang-uè words sourced from Tagalog and English. After that post, I continued to post Lannang-related things, but I was operating the group on my own.
It was not until late 2018 to 2019 that The Lannang Archives (at that time, The Chinoy Scribe, then The Chinoy Archives), began to expand. During that time, it still was not an organization. It was more of a research group of audio data transcribers. I was only looking for assistants to help me transcribe audio interview and narrative files in Lánnang-uè for my qualifying research paper. My goal has expanded from just seeking awareness to also creating output that the community can use – a databank of Lánnang-uè speech. I was holding workshops here and there – once in De La Salle University and twice in UP Diliman. Luckily, I was able to find a group of individuals interested in conserving Lannang heritage through language. Actually, 2020 was the year that The Lannang Archives became an organization. Specifically, June 3, 2020.
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The reason why I decided to convert it from an initiative to a full-fledged organization was because my team and I saw the potential for it to become a platform. A lot of people were asking how they can be more involved in heritage conservation and language documentation. Some did not just want to be research data transcribers but wanted to volunteer by creating posters, doing research, among others. This really excited me, as it is my lifelong goal to create an organization like this. So without any hesitation, I decided to establish The Lannang Archives. The organization’s mission is to conserve Lannang heritage, particularly languages, across the Philippines to empower Lannang-heritage communities and greater Philippine society.
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In a nutshell, I saw TLA’s potential to become a platform for spreading awareness, empowering the Lannang community, and bridging the cultural gap between the Lannangs and non-Lannang groups.
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