Introduction to Linguistic Field Methods

by Justin Cooper Bert A Vaux

The present volume addresses the need for an up-to-date, accessible, and comprehensive introduction to the elicitation of linguistic data from native speaker informants. The material, following an introductory chapter surveying the general enterprise of field research, is organized into eight major areas of current linguistic and anthropological Phonetics, Phonology, Morphology, Syntax, Semantics, Sociolinguistics/ Dialectology, Lexicography, and Folklore. The chapters are designed to be covered at a rate of one per week, based on a sixteen-week semester. Each chapter presents basic structures to be elicited, and provides cautionary tales drawn from the experiences of seasoned field workers who have attempted to elicit these structures. These, in turn, are followed by suggested readings and illustrative exercises for each chapter. Emphasis is placed not on developing a theory of field work, but rather on providing enlightening suggestions and entertaining anecdotes designed to guide students down their own personal path to linguistic discovery. Introduction - Transcription - Basic Lexicography - Semantics - Articulatory Phonetics - Acoustic Phonetics - Segmental Phonology - Prosodic Phonology - Nominal Phonology - Verbal Phonology - Syntax Collection Techniques and Session Planning - Syntax Advanced Work in Syntax Pragmatics - Sociolinguistics and Dialectology - Historical Linguistics - Text Collection - Appendix - References.

Paperback

Published January 1, 1999

Reviews

[Mikhael Hayes · Rating 4 out of 5]

This does the job. I'm ready to hit the field now I suppose. Minus a star because it often verges on overexplaining or tangential stuff (we don't need two paragraphs on the history of the phrase 'dropping the P bomb'... not that I'm uninterested, I am!, but this doesn't really belong in a field methods book)