Current Trends in Language Documentation and the Hans Rausing Endangered Languages Project

1. Current Trends in Language Documentationandthe Hans Rausing Endangered Languages Project Lenore A. Grenoble Dartmouth College Lenore A. Grenoble Linguistics & Cognitive Science, Dartmouth College & Peter K. Austin ELAP, Department of Linguistics SOAS

2. Outline • What is language documentation? • Why has documentation emerged now? • The Hans Rausing Endangered Languages Project • Current and future concerns

3. What is language documentation? • “a comprehensive record of the linguistic practices characteristic of a given speech community” (Himmelman 1998:166)

4. Documentation versus Description • Description: aims at a record of the language {including abstract elements, rules, etc.} • Documentation: aims at records of the linguistic practices and traditions of a speech community

5. Documentation versus Description • language documentation: systematic recording, transcription, translation and analysis of the broadest possible variety of spoken (and written) language samples collected within their appropriate social and cultural context • language description: grammar, dictionary, text collection, typically written for linguists

6. Documentation versus Description • documentation is discourse-centered primary goal => direct representation of naturally occurring discourse • descriptionand analysis are contingent by-products

7. The documentation record • the core of a documentation is a corpus of audio and/or video materials with time-aligned transcription, multi-tier annotation, translation into a language of wider communication, and relevant metadata on context and use of the materials • the corpus will ideally be large, cover a diverse range of genres and contexts, be expandable, opportunistic, portable, transparent, ethical and preservable • as a result documentation is increasingly done by teams rather than ‘lone wolf linguists’ • grammatical analysis and description are tertiary-level activities contingent on and emergent from the documentation corpus

8. Uses of documentation • documentation of a language can provide an empirical basis for: • linguistic research - phonology, grammar, discourse, sociolinguistics, typology, historical reconstruction • folklore - oral literature and folklore • poetics - metrical and music aspect of oral literature • anthropology - cultural aspects, kinship, interaction styles, ritual • oral history, and • education - applications in teaching • language revitalization

9. Users of documentation • collection, analysis and presentation of data • should be useful not only for linguistics but also for research into the socio-cultural life of the community • should be analyzed and processed so it can be understood by researchers of other disciplines and does not require any prior knowledge of the language in question • should be usable by members of the speaker community • should respect intellectual property rights, moral rights, individual and cultural sensitivities about access and use

10. Why now? • advances in technology • increased focus on data • new attention to linguistic diversity • archiving concerns • other stakeholders

11. Why now? • Technology: developments in ICT for linguistic data recording, digital capture and manipulation, representation and maintenance

12. Why now? • Data: increased focus on data and replicability of descriptive analyses, e.g. grammars with linked corpus

13. Why now? • Linguistic Diversity • renewed focus on cross-linguistic typology • increasing concern for endangerment of languages and language practices • Concerns for archiving and data preservation

14. Why now? • Stakeholders: growing awareness that linguistics has crucial stakeholders well beyond the academic community; in endangered language communities themselves, and beyond

15. Stages in documentation project • Project conceptualization and design • Establishment of field site, including negotiation of permissions • Funding application • Data collection and processing • Creation of outputs • Evaluation and reporting

16. Stages in documentation data process • Recording (media, text, metadata) • Capture (moving to digital domain) • Analysis (transcription, translation, annotation, notation of metadata) • Archiving (creating archival objects, assigning access and usage rights) • Mobilization (publication, distribution)

17. Skills for language documentation • Project conception and design - familiarity with documentation theory, data structuring, socio-cultural issues • Grant application writing • Data recording - ICT skills, fieldmethods skills • Annotation - transcription, linguistic analysis (phonology, morphology, syntax), use of tools (Transcriber, Shoebox/Toolbox, ELAN, IMDI) • Archiving - data representation, XML, relational databases

18. Responses: • Endangered Language Fund (US) • Foundation for Endangered Languages (UK) • DEL: Documenting Endangered Languages (NSF/NEH/Smithsonian) • DoBeS: Dokumentation Bedrohter Sprachen • E-MELD project of LinguistList • DELAMAN archives network • Hans Rausing Endangered Languages Project

19. Hans Rausing Endangered Languages Project • The Documentation Programme (ELDP) provides research grants • The Academic Programme (ELAP) runs postgraduate programs in Field Linguistics & Language Documentation and Description • The Archive Programme (ELAR) archives & disseminates language documentation

20. HRELP • Hans Rausing Endangered Languages Project (HRELP) funded by Lisbet Rausing Charitable Fund, based at SOAS, University of London, distributes £1million per year in 5 types of grants • 50 teams of researchers around the world documenting languages and cultures • Digital archive at SOAS • Academic program for training MA, PhD, post-doctoral researchers • Publishing books, newsletter, CD-ROMs, website

21. HRELP projects

22. Types of grants • Individual Postdoctoral Fellowship • Major Documentation Project • Individual Graduate Studentship • Pilot Project Grant • Field Trip Grant

23. Types of grants • Individual Postdoctoral Fellowship: 2 years, fieldwork, salary (£50,000-100,000) • Major Documentation Project: 6 months-2 years, large projects (£40,000-130,000) • Individual Graduate Studentship: up to 2 years, fieldwork, stipend (£15,000) • Pilot Project Grant: pilot projects (£6000) • Field Trip Grant: for fieldwork, 6-12 months (£10,000)

24. The Model • Team approach (versus the “lone wolf” linguist) • Tech support • Community involvement, community-driven agendas • Archiving

25. Practical issues • How does one formulate a team? • (Potential) conflicts: community-driven documentation versus linguist-driven documentation • Intellectual property rights, archiving and access

26. Theoretical issues • documentation = a “comprehensive record” of a language (Himmelman) • what is “comprehensive”? • how much is enough? • what is “quality” documentation • “best practices” versus “pretty good practices” • documentation versus description • where are the boundaries?

27. the responsibility of the linguist • in training community members? • in developing materials for community use?

28. The end