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Beyond expertise

The role of the linguist in language revitalization programs
  • Donna B. Gerdts
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Language Documentation
This chapter is in the book Language Documentation

Abstract

We linguists see ourselves as knights in shining armor, while Natives see us as a necessarily evil. They are quick to criticize, control, and even block linguistic work. Why this gap? First, there is misunderstanding about what linguists do. Second, linguists cannot help with the most crucial needs of an endangered language. Finally, including outsiders entails a loss of community autonomy. The socio-political agenda can easily override the urgency of the work. Understanding differences in viewpoint can foster an environment of mutual respect, leading to a successful project. The linguist must learn to function as part of a team, and the community must learn to get the most out of their linguist in order to attain the shared goal – the revitalization of the language.

Abstract

We linguists see ourselves as knights in shining armor, while Natives see us as a necessarily evil. They are quick to criticize, control, and even block linguistic work. Why this gap? First, there is misunderstanding about what linguists do. Second, linguists cannot help with the most crucial needs of an endangered language. Finally, including outsiders entails a loss of community autonomy. The socio-political agenda can easily override the urgency of the work. Understanding differences in viewpoint can foster an environment of mutual respect, leading to a successful project. The linguist must learn to function as part of a team, and the community must learn to get the most out of their linguist in order to attain the shared goal – the revitalization of the language.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Contributors ix
  4. Preface xiii
  5. Part 1. Praxis and values
  6. Language documentation 3
  7. The linguist’s responsibilities to the community of speakers 25
  8. Language documentation 37
  9. Part 2. Adequacy in documentation
  10. Adequacy in documentation 51
  11. Necessary and sufficient data collection 67
  12. Documenting different genres of oral narrative in Cora (Uto-Aztecan) 75
  13. Constructing adequate language documentation for multifaceted cross-linguistic data 89
  14. Part 3. Documentation technology
  15. Valuing technology 111
  16. Using the E-MELD School of Best Practices to create lasting digital documentation 133
  17. Sharing data in small and endangered languages 147
  18. Representing minority languages and cultures on the World Wide Web 159
  19. Part 4. Models of successful collaborations
  20. Beyond expertise 173
  21. Models of successful collaboration 193
  22. Working with language communities in unarchiving 213
  23. Saving languages, saving lives 221
  24. Language documentation in the Tohono O’odham community 231
  25. Documentation of pragmatics and metapragmatics 241
  26. Part 5. Training and careers in field linguistics
  27. Training graduate students and community members for native language documentation 255
  28. Native speakers as documenters 275
  29. part 6. Conclusion
  30. Language documentation and field linguistics 289
  31. Selected online resources 311
  32. Name index 315
  33. General index 337
https://doi.org/10.1075/z.158.18ger

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Contributors ix
  4. Preface xiii
  5. Part 1. Praxis and values
  6. Language documentation 3
  7. The linguist’s responsibilities to the community of speakers 25
  8. Language documentation 37
  9. Part 2. Adequacy in documentation
  10. Adequacy in documentation 51
  11. Necessary and sufficient data collection 67
  12. Documenting different genres of oral narrative in Cora (Uto-Aztecan) 75
  13. Constructing adequate language documentation for multifaceted cross-linguistic data 89
  14. Part 3. Documentation technology
  15. Valuing technology 111
  16. Using the E-MELD School of Best Practices to create lasting digital documentation 133
  17. Sharing data in small and endangered languages 147
  18. Representing minority languages and cultures on the World Wide Web 159
  19. Part 4. Models of successful collaborations
  20. Beyond expertise 173
  21. Models of successful collaboration 193
  22. Working with language communities in unarchiving 213
  23. Saving languages, saving lives 221
  24. Language documentation in the Tohono O’odham community 231
  25. Documentation of pragmatics and metapragmatics 241
  26. Part 5. Training and careers in field linguistics
  27. Training graduate students and community members for native language documentation 255
  28. Native speakers as documenters 275
  29. part 6. Conclusion
  30. Language documentation and field linguistics 289
  31. Selected online resources 311
  32. Name index 315
  33. General index 337
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