Abstract

This study examines digital lexical resources developed for endangered languages through a qualitative comparative framework grounded in documentary linguistics and digital lexicography. Focusing on four representative cases—the Māori Dictionary, the Ojibwe People’s Dictionary, Talking Dictionaries, and the Endangered Languages Archive—the study analyzes how different models of digital dictionaries are structured and how they support language documentation, pedagogy, and community engagement. Rather than treating these resources as directly comparable entities, the study introduces a typological distinction between stand-alone community-oriented dictionaries and large-scale documentary infrastructures. Based on an operationalized analysis of lexicographic structure, contextualization, technological features, and participation models, the findings demonstrate that digital lexical resources are functionally differentiated rather than hierarchically ordered. The results suggest that these resources operate along a continuum between pedagogical accessibility and documentary depth. Community-based dictionary models tend to emphasize user-oriented design, culturally embedded content, and language learning, while archival platforms prioritize scalability, metadata standardization, and long-term preservation. Importantly, community participation emerges as a variable rather than uniform feature, particularly within large-scale infrastructures. The study contributes to the literature by proposing a functional-typological framework for analyzing digital dictionaries of endangered languages and by highlighting the need to move beyond monolithic and evaluative comparisons. It further emphasizes the importance of integrating community perspectives, contextual richness, and technological adaptability in the design of sustainable digital language resources.

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