Rodolfo M Vega wrote:
Yes, most situations are like that in Amerindian
languages, and the
process to create a more accepted alphabets is a political rather than
"academic" one. But now, many Amerindian peoples have intellectual
native speakers, many are writers and many are trained in linguistics,
so the process to create an alphabet from the native perspective is more
than possible, and far desirable, for the reasons you say. For example,
Aymara already agreed on an alphabet for all Aymara, Argentina, Bolivia
and Chile, and they are in a process to create an Academy of the Aymara
language, with representation from all these countries. Similar process
I understand is happening in Maya, and in less extent in Mapuche (here,
the competing alphabets differ only in a couple representation of
specific phoneme). Soon or later, seeing new opportunities for
information sharing (such as a Wikipedia in their own language, which is
now under consideration in many groups) all Amerindian people will agree
on an alphabet for their specific language.
The languages that you mention have a fairly large population. Some of
the languages from mountainous areas may not have the critical mass
needed to keep them alive. Most of the native speakers are elderly, and
in that regard these oldsters are no different from their counterparts
in larger cultures for whom computers do not fall within their comfort
zone. Just getting a minimal user interface in their language is a
considerable challenge.
Ec