37 Changing notions of fieldwork
-
Lorna Wanosts’a7 Williams
Abstract
Samarin (1967: 1), a classic text about linguistic fieldwork in the 20th century, defines fieldwork as ‘primarily a way of obtaining linguistic data and studying linguistic phenomena’. From the perspective represented in Samarin’s text, fieldwork is conducted by linguists for scholarly and academic purposes, involves cooperation between linguist and language speaker(s) (or ‘informant(s)’), and can be characterized as linguist- centred (Rice 2006; Czaykowska-Higgins 2009) in the sense that it involves research on language controlled by the agenda of the linguist. In this paper, we place the practice of fieldwork involving North American languages within the history of colonization, the terrain of Indigenous communities, and the activist landscape of language revitalization and reclamation. From our different positionalities, as academics, as educator and linguist, as Lil’watul and settler-Canadian individuals, we survey ways in which language fieldwork has changed in North America since 1967, including in relation to collaborative community-based practice, community control, broadening the scope of language work, and re-defining expertise. Community-centred language fieldwork provides for mutuality and benefit in documentation, community goals, and academic interests.
Abstract
Samarin (1967: 1), a classic text about linguistic fieldwork in the 20th century, defines fieldwork as ‘primarily a way of obtaining linguistic data and studying linguistic phenomena’. From the perspective represented in Samarin’s text, fieldwork is conducted by linguists for scholarly and academic purposes, involves cooperation between linguist and language speaker(s) (or ‘informant(s)’), and can be characterized as linguist- centred (Rice 2006; Czaykowska-Higgins 2009) in the sense that it involves research on language controlled by the agenda of the linguist. In this paper, we place the practice of fieldwork involving North American languages within the history of colonization, the terrain of Indigenous communities, and the activist landscape of language revitalization and reclamation. From our different positionalities, as academics, as educator and linguist, as Lil’watul and settler-Canadian individuals, we survey ways in which language fieldwork has changed in North America since 1967, including in relation to collaborative community-based practice, community control, broadening the scope of language work, and re-defining expertise. Community-centred language fieldwork provides for mutuality and benefit in documentation, community goals, and academic interests.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- Preface V
- Table of contents VII
-
VII Language revitalization
- 32 Reviving languages: Outcomes of a Mentor-Apprentice style learning study 717
- 33 Child and child-directed speech in North American languages 741
- 34 Decolonizing Indigenous language pedagogies: Additional language learning and teaching 767
- 35 Digital tools for language revitalization 789
- 36 Using archival materials for language reclamation 807
- 37 Changing notions of fieldwork 823
-
VIII Language families and isolates
- 38 Inuit-Yupik-Unangan: An overview of the language family 843
- 39 Dene – Athabaskan 875
- 40 Algonquian 931
- 41 Michif 951
- 42 Tsimshianic 985
- 43 Wakashan Languages 1013
- 44 Salish 1053
- 45 Chinookan family, with special reference to Kiksht and notes on Chinuk Wawa 1115
- 46 Sahaptian 1139
- 47 Karuk 1169
- 48 Wáˑšiw 1201
- 49 Pomoan 1223
- 50 California languages: Isolates and other languages 1247
- 51 Chumashan 1275
- 52 Yuman 1303
- 53 Uto-Aztecan 1333
- 54 Kiowa-Tanoan 1361
- 55 Caddoan 1407
- 56 Sketch of the Siouan Language Family 1447
- 57 Chitimacha 1519
- 58 Tunica 1545
- 59 Muskogean 1577
- 60 Iroquoian 1601
- 61 Unclassified languages 1627
- List of Authors 1649
- Index of languages 1673
- Index of names 1685
- Index of subjects 1695
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- Preface V
- Table of contents VII
-
VII Language revitalization
- 32 Reviving languages: Outcomes of a Mentor-Apprentice style learning study 717
- 33 Child and child-directed speech in North American languages 741
- 34 Decolonizing Indigenous language pedagogies: Additional language learning and teaching 767
- 35 Digital tools for language revitalization 789
- 36 Using archival materials for language reclamation 807
- 37 Changing notions of fieldwork 823
-
VIII Language families and isolates
- 38 Inuit-Yupik-Unangan: An overview of the language family 843
- 39 Dene – Athabaskan 875
- 40 Algonquian 931
- 41 Michif 951
- 42 Tsimshianic 985
- 43 Wakashan Languages 1013
- 44 Salish 1053
- 45 Chinookan family, with special reference to Kiksht and notes on Chinuk Wawa 1115
- 46 Sahaptian 1139
- 47 Karuk 1169
- 48 Wáˑšiw 1201
- 49 Pomoan 1223
- 50 California languages: Isolates and other languages 1247
- 51 Chumashan 1275
- 52 Yuman 1303
- 53 Uto-Aztecan 1333
- 54 Kiowa-Tanoan 1361
- 55 Caddoan 1407
- 56 Sketch of the Siouan Language Family 1447
- 57 Chitimacha 1519
- 58 Tunica 1545
- 59 Muskogean 1577
- 60 Iroquoian 1601
- 61 Unclassified languages 1627
- List of Authors 1649
- Index of languages 1673
- Index of names 1685
- Index of subjects 1695
