Native speakers as documenters
-
Frances Ajo
Abstract
The Language Documentation Training Center (LDTC), a student-run initiative in the Department of Linguistics at the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa, is an innovative program which brings native speakers into the field of documentary linguistics and elevates their roles to central participants in the documentary process. At LDTC, graduate students in linguistics partner up with native speakers of underdocumented languages during a series of workshops where native speakers learn best practices in documentary linguistics. While the linguistic training is pared down to the skills and knowledge relevant to the native speakers’ languages, the documentary training empowers the speakers to undertake further documentation efforts in their own communities. This paper details the methods and practices of the LDTC.
Abstract
The Language Documentation Training Center (LDTC), a student-run initiative in the Department of Linguistics at the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa, is an innovative program which brings native speakers into the field of documentary linguistics and elevates their roles to central participants in the documentary process. At LDTC, graduate students in linguistics partner up with native speakers of underdocumented languages during a series of workshops where native speakers learn best practices in documentary linguistics. While the linguistic training is pared down to the skills and knowledge relevant to the native speakers’ languages, the documentary training empowers the speakers to undertake further documentation efforts in their own communities. This paper details the methods and practices of the LDTC.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Contributors ix
- Preface xiii
-
Part 1. Praxis and values
- Language documentation 3
- The linguist’s responsibilities to the community of speakers 25
- Language documentation 37
-
Part 2. Adequacy in documentation
- Adequacy in documentation 51
- Necessary and sufficient data collection 67
- Documenting different genres of oral narrative in Cora (Uto-Aztecan) 75
- Constructing adequate language documentation for multifaceted cross-linguistic data 89
-
Part 3. Documentation technology
- Valuing technology 111
- Using the E-MELD School of Best Practices to create lasting digital documentation 133
- Sharing data in small and endangered languages 147
- Representing minority languages and cultures on the World Wide Web 159
-
Part 4. Models of successful collaborations
- Beyond expertise 173
- Models of successful collaboration 193
- Working with language communities in unarchiving 213
- Saving languages, saving lives 221
- Language documentation in the Tohono O’odham community 231
- Documentation of pragmatics and metapragmatics 241
-
Part 5. Training and careers in field linguistics
- Training graduate students and community members for native language documentation 255
- Native speakers as documenters 275
-
part 6. Conclusion
- Language documentation and field linguistics 289
- Selected online resources 311
- Name index 315
- General index 337
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Contributors ix
- Preface xiii
-
Part 1. Praxis and values
- Language documentation 3
- The linguist’s responsibilities to the community of speakers 25
- Language documentation 37
-
Part 2. Adequacy in documentation
- Adequacy in documentation 51
- Necessary and sufficient data collection 67
- Documenting different genres of oral narrative in Cora (Uto-Aztecan) 75
- Constructing adequate language documentation for multifaceted cross-linguistic data 89
-
Part 3. Documentation technology
- Valuing technology 111
- Using the E-MELD School of Best Practices to create lasting digital documentation 133
- Sharing data in small and endangered languages 147
- Representing minority languages and cultures on the World Wide Web 159
-
Part 4. Models of successful collaborations
- Beyond expertise 173
- Models of successful collaboration 193
- Working with language communities in unarchiving 213
- Saving languages, saving lives 221
- Language documentation in the Tohono O’odham community 231
- Documentation of pragmatics and metapragmatics 241
-
Part 5. Training and careers in field linguistics
- Training graduate students and community members for native language documentation 255
- Native speakers as documenters 275
-
part 6. Conclusion
- Language documentation and field linguistics 289
- Selected online resources 311
- Name index 315
- General index 337
