Unanswered questions in language documentation and revitalization
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Lenore A. Grenoble
Abstract
The last twenty years have witnessed an explosion of research on issues of language endangerment, with the emergence of documentary linguistics and the growth of language revitalization programs, resulting in changes in methodologies and in subfields within linguistics. The present article assesses this work in terms of its impact, focusing on documentation corpora, their contents, and how data are collected, archived, and used. The push to document the “last” fluent speakers has resulted in gaps in our current research, such as a general lack of documentation of variation, few studies of the kinds of change that take place during language shift and attrition, and few studies of the newer forms of language which emerge as the result of revitalization.
Abstract
The last twenty years have witnessed an explosion of research on issues of language endangerment, with the emergence of documentary linguistics and the growth of language revitalization programs, resulting in changes in methodologies and in subfields within linguistics. The present article assesses this work in terms of its impact, focusing on documentation corpora, their contents, and how data are collected, archived, and used. The push to document the “last” fluent speakers has resulted in gaps in our current research, such as a general lack of documentation of variation, few studies of the kinds of change that take place during language shift and attrition, and few studies of the newer forms of language which emerge as the result of revitalization.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Dedication vii
- Acknowledgements ix
- Introduction xi
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Part I. Language Endangerment: Challenges and Responses
- The world’s languages in crisis 3
- What can revitalization work teach us about documentation? 21
- Unanswered questions in language documentation and revitalization 43
- Training as empowering social action 59
- How to avoid pitfalls in documenting endangered languages 79
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Part II. Case Studies in Documentation and Revitalization of Endangered Languages and Languages in Contact
- Converb and aspect-marking polysemy in Nar 97
- Grammatical relations in Mixe and Chimariko 119
- Having a shinshii/shiishii ‘master’ around makes you speak Japanese! 141
- Internal and external calls to immigrant language promotion 157
- Code-switching in an Erzya–Russian bilingual variety 175
- Colonialism, nationalism and language vitality in Azerbaijan 197
- Revitalizing languages through place-based language curriculum 221
- Remembering ancestral voices 243
- Index 271
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Dedication vii
- Acknowledgements ix
- Introduction xi
-
Part I. Language Endangerment: Challenges and Responses
- The world’s languages in crisis 3
- What can revitalization work teach us about documentation? 21
- Unanswered questions in language documentation and revitalization 43
- Training as empowering social action 59
- How to avoid pitfalls in documenting endangered languages 79
-
Part II. Case Studies in Documentation and Revitalization of Endangered Languages and Languages in Contact
- Converb and aspect-marking polysemy in Nar 97
- Grammatical relations in Mixe and Chimariko 119
- Having a shinshii/shiishii ‘master’ around makes you speak Japanese! 141
- Internal and external calls to immigrant language promotion 157
- Code-switching in an Erzya–Russian bilingual variety 175
- Colonialism, nationalism and language vitality in Azerbaijan 197
- Revitalizing languages through place-based language curriculum 221
- Remembering ancestral voices 243
- Index 271
