Episodes
Thursday Jul 29, 2021
Ep 30: Pedro Mateo Pedro on Mayan Language Research & Revitalization
Thursday Jul 29, 2021
Thursday Jul 29, 2021
This month's episode is with Pedro Mateo Pedro from University of Toronto.
Pedro is a native speaker of Q’anjob’al, a Mayan language of Guatemala. His research focuses on the documentation and description of Mayan languages, specifically language acquisition, Mayan languages in contact and dialectal variation.
Pedro received his PhD in linguistics at the University of Kansas in 2010 and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard University. Pedro has taught at universities in Guatemala, Mexico and the United States.
Additionally, Pedro has worked on the production of educational materials in Mayan languages in coordination with different institutions in Guatemala, such as the Ministry of Education and the Academy of Maya Languages of Guatemala (ALMG in Spanish). In 2019, Pedro received an award as a distinguished professor at the Universidad del Valle de Guatemala, Campus Altiplano.
Things mentioned in this episode
Wednesday Jun 23, 2021
Ep 29: Jaime Pérez González on Tseltal & Mocho' language documentation in Mexico
Wednesday Jun 23, 2021
Wednesday Jun 23, 2021
Jaime Pérez González is a Tseltal (Maya) researcher, writer, and translator from Tenango, Ocosingo, Chiapas, Mexico. He is a PhD candidate in Linguistics at the University of Texas at Austin. He earned his master’s in American-Indian Linguistics at the Center for Research and Higher Studies in Social Anthropology (CIESAS, Mexico).
Since 2008, he has worked on different Tseltal language documentation projects as a collaborator and as a research assistant, and as a researcher. Among the topics he has worked on during these projects are Dialectology and Lexicography (building dictionaries). He started to work on Mocho’ (a cousin Mayan language) in 2015, and he is currently the Principal Investigator of the project “Documentation of Mocho’ (Mayan): Language Preservation through Community Awareness and Engagement” sponsored by the Endangered Language Documentation Programme (ELDP). His research goes from Descriptive Linguistics, Language Documentation and Language revitalization. He has written about fieldwork methodologies, and he is currently working on a Descriptive Grammar of Mocho’.
Things mentioned in this episode:
Wednesday May 19, 2021
Ep 28: Irabu Ryukyuan Language Documentation with Michinori Shimoji
Wednesday May 19, 2021
Wednesday May 19, 2021
Today's episode is with Michinori Shimoji, an Associate Professor of Linguistics at Kyushu University in Japan. He has a PhD from the Australian National University (ANU). He has published extensively on fieldwork-based descriptions of Ryukyuan languages, particularly Irabu Miyako, which is his father's native language. His research focuses on empirical and inductive generalizations of linguistic systems and structures, with a particular emphasis on typological generalizations. With Patrick Heinrich and Shinsho Miyara, he is the editor of the Handbook of the Ryukyuan Languages History, Structure, and Use (2015). He is also the editor of An Introduction to Ryukyuan Languages (2011), along with Thomas Pellard.
Things mentioned in this episode:
Thursday May 06, 2021
Ep 27: Field Notes Live Show with Hilaria Cruz on Field Linguistics & Chatino
Thursday May 06, 2021
Thursday May 06, 2021
The second episode of Season 3 is a live show with Hilaria Cruz from the University of Louisville. Hilaria is a native speaker of Chatino, an endangered Zapotecan language, spoken in the mountains of Oaxaca, Mexico and by Chatino who have migrated to the Southeastern United states. Hilaria is currently researching the Chatino concepts of the dead in four Eastern Chatino communities. Hilaria and her sister, Emiliana Cruz, have created an orthography for the Chatino language.
This live show was recorded as part of LingFest, a program of online linguistics events aimed at a general audience, on Saturday, April 24, 2021. Access to the unabridged video live stream is available on the Field Notes Patreon.
Things mentioned in this episode
- Hilaria's Chatino deposit at AILLA & ELAR
- Chatino language family
- Zacatepec Chatino
- Tataltepec Chatino
- Zenzontepec Chatino
- Teojomulco Chatino
- Chatino children's books to purchase & download
- Chatino verbs on Wiktionary
- "Documenting Sign Language Structure and Language Socialization in the San Juan Quiahije Chatino Signing Community" ELAR deposit by Lynn Hou
- "Gesture, Speech and Sign in Chatino Communities" ELAR deposit by Kate Mesh
- Hilaria on the Vocal Fries Podcast & Lingthusiasm Podcast
Thursday Apr 22, 2021
Ep 26: Nancy Kula on Researching Bemba Phonology in Zambia
Thursday Apr 22, 2021
Thursday Apr 22, 2021
Welcome to Season 3 of Field Notes! Field Notes episodes will now be released monthly. This season will feature one insider linguist each month. If you would like to hear more Field Notes content, you can now support Field Notes on Patreon!
This special first episode features Professor Nancy Kula studied phonology for her PhD at the University of Leiden. She has an MA in Linguistics from SOAS, University of London, and a BA in Education with African Languages and Linguistics from the University of Zambia. Following her PhD, she held a post-doctoral position in Leiden and at SOAS for three years and now works at the University of Essex since 2007. She has worked on many topics in phonology including tone and intonation and theoretically works on element theory. She is also interested in Language Policy as it applies to education in multilingual contexts and is currently running a project covering Botswana, Tanzania and Zambia. She has published in international linguistics journals, has edited a number of volumes and serves on international editorial boards.
Things mentioned in this episode:
- Nancy's profile at The Uni of Essex
- Bemba language
- Bantu language family
- Nancy on Twitter @nancyckula & @bringing_in
- Nancy's work on ResearchGate & academia.edu
- Field Notes Episode 5 with Khairunnisa on Insider Researcher Language Documentation on Sasak
- Field Notes Episode 11 with Alex Garcia on Monolingual Fieldwork in The Philippines
Wednesday Feb 17, 2021
Ep 25: Tibeto-Burman Field Linguistics with Shobhana Chelliah
Wednesday Feb 17, 2021
Wednesday Feb 17, 2021
Today's episode is with Shobhana Chelliah, a Distinguished Research Professor of Linguistics and Associate Dean at the University of North Texas (UNT). Shobhana is a documentary linguist interested in creating descriptions that expand typological discovery, primarily of the Tibeto-Burman languages spoken in Manipur state, India. Her publications include The Grammar of Meithei (Mouton 1997) and the Handbook of Descriptive Linguistic Fieldwork (co-authored with Willem de Reuse, Springer 2010) and the recently-published Springer Brief titled Why Language Documentation Matters. She is also the founding director of the Computational Resource of South Asian Languages Archive.
Things mentioned in this episode:
- Formalism
- Meitei (Manipuri) language
- Lamkang language
- Tibeto-Burman language family
- Boro–Garo languages
- Dimasa language
- Kokborok language
- Computational Resource for South Asian Languages (CoRSAL) Archive
- Hakha Chin language
- Shobhana's website
*Correction: The two Lamkang scholars who visited UNT were Daniel Tholung and Shekarnong Sankhil. This episode referenced Swamy Ksen, who is a Lamkang language expert Shobhana and her team works with in Manipur.
Friday Jul 10, 2020
Ep 24: Pius Akumbu on Insider Research in Babanki
Friday Jul 10, 2020
Friday Jul 10, 2020
This episode marks the Season Two finale with Professor Pius Akumbu, an Associate Professor of Linguistics at the University of Bamenda, Cameroon, and an Alexander von Humboldt Fellow at the University of Hamburg. His research focuses on the documentation and description of Grassfields Bantu languages of Cameroon, including his mother tongue, Babanki. Additionally, Pius researches multilingualism in Cameroon as well as language planning and policy in Africa. He is an ELDP grant recipient and a depositor at the Endangered Languages Archive. He is also a member of the KPAAM-CAM project.
Things mentioned in this episode:
- Babanki language
- Multimedia Documentation of Babanki Ritual Speech (ELAR deposit)
- KPAAM-CAM project
- Njem (Njyem) language
- Cameroonian Pidgin English
- ELDP
- Firebird Foundation
- Foundation For Endangered Languages
- Endangered Language Fund
- Pius Akumbu's website
- Babanki literacy classes and community-based language research by Pius Akumbu (2018)
- Episode 13: Jeff Good on Facilitating Language Documentation in Cameroon
Get in touch:
- Website: https://fieldnotespod.com
- Email: fieldnotespod@gmail.com
- Twitter & Instagram: @lingfieldnotes
- Field Notes Support Page
Wednesday Jul 08, 2020
Ep 23: Descriptive Linguistic Fieldwork with Willem de Reuse
Wednesday Jul 08, 2020
Wednesday Jul 08, 2020
This week's episode is with Willem de Reuse. Willem specializes in the description of Native American languages, particularly Siouan and Athabaskan languages. He wrote his Ph.D. dissertation on the Siberian Yupik language. He has published on morphological theory, language contact, and historical phonology and philology. He has taught at the University of Chicago, the University of Iowa, Ball State University, and the University of Arizona. His current position is at The Language Conservancy, and he also is affiliated with The University of North Texas. He is the Review Editor of the International Journal of American Linguistics, and he has written the Handbook Of Descriptive Linguistic Fieldwork (2011) with Shobhana Chelliah. He is currently conducting fieldwork in Arizona working with speakers of Apache.
Things mentioned in this episode:
- The Language Conservancy
- Apache language
- Navajo language
- Lakota language
- Hopi language
- Hän Athabaskan language
- Central Siberian Yupik language
- Siouan languages
- Athabaskan languages
- Zulu language
- The world's languages in crisis by Michael Krauss (1992)
- On endangered languages and the importance of linguistic diversity by Ken Hale (1998)
Get in touch:
- Website: https://fieldnotespod.com
- Email: fieldnotespod@gmail.com
- Twitter & Instagram: @lingfieldnotes
Friday Jun 26, 2020
Friday Jun 26, 2020
Today's episode is with N. Haʻalilio Solomon, who is an Instructor at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa at Kawaihuelani Center for Hawaiian Language, where he is also a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Linguistics. Haʻalilio is also a translator for ‘ōlelo Hawaiʻi with Awaiaulu and Hoʻopulapula, and his studies involve language documentation and revitalization, as well as linguistic ideologies and attitudes surrounding ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi. He is the author of the forthcoming book chapter Rescuing Maunalua: Shifting Nomenclatures and the Reconfiguration of Space in Hawaii Kai.
Things mentioned in this episode:
- ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi
- KTUH radio station (Haʻalilio's show is on Sundays 3-6 pm HST)
- Pūnana Leo
- Hawaiian Cultural Renaissance
- Mai Loko Mai O ka ‘I‘ini: Proceeding from a Dream by William H. Wilson and Kauanoe Kamana
- International Conference on Language Documentation & Conservation (ICLDC)
- The Hawaiian Corpus Project
- Kaipuleohone Language Archive
Get in touch:
- Website: https://fieldnotespod.com
- Email: fieldnotespod@gmail.com
- Twitter & Instagram: @lingfieldnotes
Thursday Jun 18, 2020
Ep 21: Community-Based Documentation with Sheena Shah
Thursday Jun 18, 2020
Thursday Jun 18, 2020
This week's episode is with Sheena Shah, a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Hamburg in Germany. She is currently working on a 2-year project documenting siPhuthi. Sheena has conducted linguistic fieldwork on a number of languages in Southern Africa, including several indigenous click languages. Sheena’s mother tongue is Gujarati and for her Ph.D., she worked with Gujarati diaspora communities in London, Johannesburg, and Singapore.
Things mentioned in this episode:
- siPhuthi language
- N/uu language
- Gujarati language
- N/uu reader
- Sheena's ELAR deposits: Documentation for the revitalisation of N|uu & A multi-media digital corpus of siPhuthi
- Sheena on Twitter: @DrSheenaShah
- ASPECTS OF TONE AND VOICE IN PHUTHI (Ph.D. Dissertation by Simon Scurr Donnelly)
-
Diversity in Academia on Instagram: @diversityinacademia
Get in touch:
- Website: https://fieldnotespod.com
- Email: fieldnotespod@gmail.com
- Twitter & Instagram: @lingfieldnotes