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. 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. 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. This should be seen as a basic taxonomic task for linguistics, identifying the range of languages and their characteristics.…

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. 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. 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. This should be seen as a basic taxonomic task for linguistics, identifying the range of languages and their characteristics. While various linguists had already been practising language documentation during the 20th century, the discipline was established as a specific field within linguistics following a 1998¹ publication by Nikolaus Himmelmann, which many understand as foundational. ==Types== Language description, as a task within linguistics, may be divided into separate areas of specialization: Phonetics, the study of the sounds of human language Phonology, the study of the sound system of a language Morphology, the study of the internal structure of words Syntax, the study of how words combine to form grammatical sentences Semantics, the study of the meaning of words (lexical semantics), and how these combine to form the meanings of sentences Historical linguistics, the study of languages whose historical relations are recognizable through similarities in vocabulary, word formation, and syntax Pragmatics, the study of how language is used by its speakers Stylistics, the study of style in languages Paremiography, the collection of proverbs and sayings ==References== Recording your elder/Native speaker, practical vocal recording tips for non-professionals Resource Network for Linguistic Diversity, mailing list University of Hawai'i Department of Linguistics Lakota Language Consortium DOBES Documentation of Endangered Languages

Text derived from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1374636072 under CC BY-SA 4.0; modifications have been made.