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