Disappearing Without a Trace: Coverage, Community, Quality, and Temporal Dynamics of Wikipedia Articles on Endangered Brazilian Indigenous Languages

Abstract

Nearly half of Brazil's 180 Indigenous languages face extinction within the next 20 years. What's more concerning is that most of these languages lack a single scientific article describing them, which means they could disappear without leaving any documented evidence of their existence. This work investigates the state of articles about those languages in Wikipedia, both in the English and Portuguese versions, regarded here as indicative of the minimum world-level trace of the previous existence of these languages. Our study shows that over 30% of these languages do not have a single Wikipedia article describing them. It also highlights that the Portuguese and English editing communities are not only distinct, but have different practices, achieving similar levels of quality through different temporal dynamics. These results, although encouraging, suggest that any effort to enhance coverage comprehensiveness in both Wikipedias should consider different strategies for engaging each editing community.