Language Documentation and Conservation in Oceania
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Transcript of Language Documentation and Conservation in Oceania
LanguageDocumentationandConservationinOceaniaJoshuaA.Bell(Smithsonian)AndreaBerez-Kroeker (UHMānoa)Lise Dobrin (UVirgina)GaryHolton(UHMānoa)AlexMawyer (UHMānoa)
TheLanguagesofOceania
• 1500-2000languages:1/3– 1/4oftheworld’slinguisticdiversity!Oneofthemostlinguisticallydiverseareasintheworld• peopleareincreasinglyusinglanguagesofwidercommunication(Tok Pisin,English,Indonesian,French)• lessextensivemultilingualism• newpatternsofmultilingualism
• localawareness+concernaboutlanguageshiftandloss
1984
1995
PatternsofLanguageShift
• Agegrading• Geographicdistribution• Highdegreeofborrowing• Codeswitching• Structuralconvergence• Lossofdomains,registers(e.g.,oratory,babytalk)
TheEmergenceofDocumentaryLinguistics
• Overthepast25yearshas(re)emergedasadistinctsubfield• 1991– MichaelKrausswarns:• “Wemustdosomeseriousrethinkingofourpriorities,lestlinguisticsgodowninhistoryastheonlysciencethatpresidedobliviouslyoverthedisappearanceof90%oftheveryfieldtowhichitisdedicated.”
• 1992– UNESCOformsEndangeredLanguagesCommittee• 1998– Nikolaus Himmelmann arguesfordistinguishinglanguagedescriptionfromdocumentation,whichaims“toprovideacomprehensiverecordofthelinguisticpracticesofagivenspeechcommunity”
TheEmergenceofDocumentaryLinguistics
• Funding• 2000– VolkswagenFoundationDOBES• 2002– EndangeredLanguagesDocumentationProgramme (ELDP)• 2005– NSFDocumentingEndangeredLanguagesprogram(DEL)
• Infrastructure• 1992– LinguisticSocietyofAmericaCommitteeonEndangeredLanguages• 2001– OpenLanguageArchivesCommunity• 2003– DigitalEndangeredLanguagesandMusics ArchivingNetwork
• Journals• 2003– LanguageDocumentationandDescription• 2007– LanguageDocumentation&Conservation
TheDisciplinaryCultureofLinguistics
• greatersenseofresponsibilityforallstagesofknowledgeproduction• newconsciousnessofdatasourcesandmultipleaudiences• nohistoricalmistrustof“salvage”toovercome• greateropennesstodifferentintellectualperspectives
• limitedresourcesforthinkingaboutsocialphenomena• stillverygrammar-centricviewoflanguage
InterdisciplinaryDocumentation
• Themodernincarnationoflanguagedocumentationisbynatureinterdisciplinary,coveringabroadrangeofknowledgedomains• botany• astronomy• mathematics• geography• foodandnutrition• humanrelations• music• …
• Theseexperientialdomainsareparticularlysusceptibletoloss,eveninrelativelyvibrantlinguisticcommunities(JaneHill2001)
Abuiethnobotany
• AlthoughAbuiisrelativelywell-documentedintermsofgrammar,dictionary,andtexts,collaborativeethnobotanicalworkin2016providedmanynewdiscoveries• ~500plantnamesrecorded,mostlynew• Binomialnamingandcompound ordering• Importanceofrootcrops,includingsome(e.g.,Amorphophallus)notpreviouslydocumented• Functionalnaming• Documentednovelplant uses• Plant-diseasesyncretism
Plant/diseasesyncretism
takaya ‘ti plant’(Cordyline fruticosa).• Leavesaretiedontovaluabletreessuchascandlenut,arecapalm,andjackfruittocreateaprotectivespellwhichwardsofftheftofthefruitsornutsofthattree.• Transgressingthisprotectionbytakingthefruitsornutswithoutpermissionwillcausethetransgressortosufferthetakaya disease(possiblycerebralmalaria,perChan2016)• plant = cause ofdisease
ExplorationofLEKinFSM
• Dr.AlexanderMawyer,UniversityofHawai‘iatMānoa,CenterforPacificIslandsStudies• Dr.EmersonLopezOdango,PacificResourcesforEducationandLearning• Dr.JoshuaA.Bell,SmithsonianInstitution,NationalMuseumofNaturalHistory
Addinglanguagedocumentationtoanexistingproject1. getdecentequipment2. makegoodrecordings3. recordlanguageinuse4. transcribeandtranslateatleast10-30minutes5. organizefilesandcreatemetadata6. depositwitharchive
(AlexKing2015)
Don’tlettheperfectbetheenemyofthegood.Languagedocumentationisaprocessandwilltransformovertime.Butyouhavetostartsomewhere.
Archiving
• ManyofyouareexpertsaboutthePacificlanguagesspokenwhereyouwork.Yourknowledge,notes,andrecordingsareatreasure.• Archivingtransformsyourknowledgeandmaterialsintoanenduringrecordthatcanbeaccessedbyfuturescholarsandcommunitymembers• Archiveddocumentationprovidesawindowintothehistoryofalanguage,oftenrevealingdomainsoflanguageuseandknowledgewhicharedormantinthemodernlanguage
Archivingrequiresaninstitutionalcommitment• Yourharddriveisnotanarchive(evenifyouhavelotsofcopies)• Awebsiteisnotanarchive
• Digitalarchivewithsearchablemetadata• Partofworld-widenetworkoflanguagearchives• Candigitizelegacymaterials• Facilitateconnectionsbetweenresearchers• e.g.,ShellyHarrison’sMokilese materials
• fieldnotebooks• openreeltapes• cassettes• punchcards• 1000soffileslips
StillfromKal Muller’sfilmofTanna Islanddances,Vanuatu(1970-74)
NMNH’sAnthropologyHoldings8millionfeetofFilm
3millionanthropologyobjects
9,000shelffeetofManuscripts
635,000Photographs
11,400Recordings
RECOVERING VOICESCollaborating with communities to
sustain and celebrate linguistic and cultural diversity.
BellaBellaandBellaCooladelegationtoMSCfundedbyRVcommunityscholarsgrant(May2013)
Keneava HenryKe’a lookingposingwithbookofF.E.Williams photographsforPurariDeltaelementaryschools(2010-2012)
SebastianHaraha examiningabeltfromthePapuanGulfcollectedin1928(2014)
LookingAhead•WhatwouldhelpPacificanthropologistsmobilizetheirlinguisticknowledgeandpreservetheirlanguagematerials?• Howcanwebuildconnectionsbetweenseniorandjuniorscholars?•WhatrolemighttherebeforASAOinsupportingtheseefforts?
bit.ly/LangDocOceania