Language documentation

Language documentation (also: documentary linguistics) is a subfield of linguistics which aims to describe the grammar and use of human languages. It aims to provide a comprehensive record of the linguistic practices characteristic of a given speech community.^[1]^[2]^[3] Language documentation seeks to create as thorough a record as possible of the speech community for both posterity and language revitalization. This record can be public or private depending on the needs of the community and the purpose of the documentation. In practice, language documentation can range from solo linguistic anthropological fieldwork to the creation of vast online archives that contain dozens of different languages, such as FirstVoices or OLAC.^[4]

Language documentation provides a firmer foundation for linguistic analysis in that it creates a corpus of materials in the language. The materials in question can range from vocabulary lists and grammar rules to children's books and translated works. These materials can then support claims about the structure of the language and its usage.^[5] This should be seen as a basic taxonomic task for linguistics, identifying the range of languages and their characteristics.

^ Himmelmann, Nikolaus P. (1998). "Documentary and descriptive linguistics" (PDF). Linguistics. 36 (1): 161–195. doi:10.1515/ling.1998.36.1.161. S2CID 53134117. Retrieved 2018-01-18.
^ Gippert, Jost; Himmelmann, Nikolaus P.; Mosel, Ulrike, eds. (2006). Essentials of language documentation. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. pp. x, 424. ISBN 978-3-11-018864-6.
^ Woodbury, Anthony C. (2003). "Defining documentary linguistics". In Austin, Peter K. (ed.). Language documentation and description. Vol. 1. London: SOAS. pp. 35–51. Retrieved 2018-01-18.
^ Bird, Steven; Simons, Gary (2003). "Seven Dimensions of Portability for Language Documentation and Description". Language. 79 (3): 557–582. arXiv:cs/0204020. doi:10.1353/lan.2003.0149. ISSN 0097-8507. JSTOR 4489465. S2CID 2046136.
^ Cushman, Ellen (2013). "Wampum, Sequoyan, and Story: Decolonizing the Digital Archive". College English. 76 (2): 115–135. ISSN 0010-0994. JSTOR 24238145.

[1] Himmelmann, Nikolaus P. (1998). "Documentary and descriptive linguistics" (PDF). Linguistics. 36 (1): 161–195. doi:10.1515/ling.1998.36.1.161. S2CID 53134117. Retrieved 2018-01-18.

[2] Gippert, Jost; Himmelmann, Nikolaus P.; Mosel, Ulrike, eds. (2006). Essentials of language documentation. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. pp. x, 424. ISBN 978-3-11-018864-6.

[3] Woodbury, Anthony C. (2003). "Defining documentary linguistics". In Austin, Peter K. (ed.). Language documentation and description. Vol. 1. London: SOAS. pp. 35–51. Retrieved 2018-01-18.

[4] Bird, Steven; Simons, Gary (2003). "Seven Dimensions of Portability for Language Documentation and Description". Language. 79 (3): 557–582. arXiv:cs/0204020. doi:10.1353/lan.2003.0149. ISSN 0097-8507. JSTOR 4489465. S2CID 2046136.

[5] Cushman, Ellen (2013). "Wampum, Sequoyan, and Story: Decolonizing the Digital Archive". College English. 76 (2): 115–135. ISSN 0010-0994. JSTOR 24238145.

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