Field Notes

This episode is with  Alexandra Philbin. Alexandra is originally from Dublin, Ireland, and now lives in València, Spain. She is carrying out doctoral research in the Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology at the University of València. Her research focuses on the experiences of urban speakers of minoritized languages, particularly Irish speakers in Dublin and Valencian (Catalan) speakers in València. Before moving to València, she completed an undergraduate degree in World Languages at University College Cork, and a master’s degree in Linguistic Anthropology at Maynooth University. She also taught Irish to adult learners and carried out research on Irish-medium education on behalf of the Irish government. As well as completing her PhD research, Alexandra teaches Irish and works as a Language Revitalization Mentor with the Endangered Languages Project, offering free, online support to those working to promote Indigenous and minoritized languages around the world.  Things mentioned in this episode  Irish language  Galician language  Catalan language Endangered Languages Project  Ep. 48: Yulha Lhawa on Khroskyabs Language Documentation & Revitalization  Endangered Languages Project Mentorship Program Ep 24: Pius Akumbu on Insider Research in Babanki  Pop-Up Gaeltacht  Celtic languages Manx language Welsh language  Breton language  Cornish language  Scottish Gaelic language Association of Celtic Students Alexandra’s email: alexandra AT endangeredlanguages.com Alexandra on Twitter: @Alexandra_Phil_ Alexandra on Instagram: @irlandesaalavalenciana

This month's episode is with Yulha Lhawa from the University of Washington and the Endangered Languages Project. Yulha Lhawa, originally from Siyuewu Village in Sichuan, China, is a passionate advocate for her community's traditions and language. Growing up as a yak herder, Yulha developed an interest in linguistics during high school. This interest fueled her to create the trilingual book "Warming Your Hands by Moonlight," aimed at preserving local history and folklore. Taking her dedication a step further, Yulha journeyed to the United States from the Himalayas to study linguistics at the University of Oregon. Currently, she's pursuing a Master's in computational linguistics at the University of Washington, hoping to merge her linguistic knowledge with modern technology to contribute to the preservation of her community's cultural heritage. Things mentioned in this episode Khroskyabs language Gyalrongic languages Tibeto-Burman languages Endangered Languages Project Endangered Languages Project Mentorship Program Khroskyabs on YouTube Field Notes Patreon

This month's episode is with Dr. Karolina Grzech at the University of Valencia. Karolina is a documentary and descriptive linguist, working mostly on Quechuan languages and natural language use. Her main topics of research are evidentiality (encoding how we know things) and epistemicity (encoding different aspects of knowledge). She is particularly interested in how these categories play out in natural discourse. She also researches pragmatics in general, and, language endangerment and methodology of linguistic fieldwork, with special reference to the indigenous language of South America. Karolina is also interested in the socio-economic issues which affect minority and endangered languages and the communities which use them. Finally, if you are interested in learning more about Quechuan languages, last season Field Notes aired an interview with Gladys Camacho Ríos on her work with her native language, South Bolivian Quechua (episode linked below in show notes). Things mentioned in this episode: MA in Language Documentation & Description at SOAS, University of London Endangered Languages Documentation Programme Endangered Languages Archive Field Notes Ep. 46: Kate Lindsey on Idi and Ende Language Documentation in Papua New Guinea Shuar language Kichwa language Endangered oral traditions of Kichwa-speaking Ecuador: collaborative documentation of Chibuleo Kichwa / Tradiciones orales amenazadas del Ecuador Kichwa-hablante: documentación colaborativa del Kichwa de Chibuleo(ELAR deposit) Upper Napo Kichwa: documentation of language and culture (ELAR deposit) Endangered oral traditions of Kichwa-speaking Ecuador: collaborative documentation of Upper Napo Kichwa / Tradiciones orales amenazadas del Ecuador Kichwa-hablante: documentación colaborativa del Kichwa de Alto Napo (ELAR deposit) Field Notes Ep. 36: Quechuan Language Documentation & Revitalization with Gladys Camacho Ríos Language Landscape Karolina on Google Scholar Karolina on ResearchGate Karolina on Academia

This month's episode is with Dr. Kate Lindsey. Kate is a professor of linguistics and co-director of the Structures of Under-Researched Languages lab at Boston University. Her research has both theoretical and documentary applications. Her theoretical work focuses on the analysis of underspecification and variation in phonological systems supported primarily by field data. Her dissertation utilized original data from eleven months of fieldwork with Ende speakers of Limol village, Papua New Guinea to explore the interaction of so-called ghost elements pervasive in Ende phonology. Current research projects include extended fieldwork in the South Fly area of Papua New Guinea to support the first reference grammar of Ende, a typological study of the Pahoturi River language family, and theoretical analyses of vowel harmony and phonological reduplication. Things mentioned in this episode Hopi language Chuvash language Nen language Pahoturi language family Idi language Ende language Ende Tän e Indrang (Light into Ende Tribe) Kate's email: klindsey@bu.edu Where There Is No Doctor: A Village Health Care Handbook

Field Notes is back for its fifth and final season! Season five's inagural episode is with Patrick Heinrich from the Ca' Foscari University of Venice. Patrick received his Masters degree in Linguistics and Japanese Studies in 1998 from Heinrich-Heine University Düsseldorf. He completed his PhD in Japanese Studies in 2002 at Duisburg University. He is a sociolinguist who has worked extensively in the Ryukyuan archipelago, and has written many publications on language ideology, language shift, language reclamation, language planning and policy, and language and well-being. Along with Shinsho Miyara and Michinori Shimoji, he is the co-editor of the Handbook of the Ryukyuan Languages (2015). He is also co-editor of Language Crisis in the Ryukyus (2014), along with Mark Anderson.  Things mentioned in this episode: Ryukyuan language family Uchinaaguchi (Okinawan) language Miyako language Dunan (Yonaguni) language Yaeyama language Amami languages Educated Not to Speak Our Language: Language Attitudes and Newspeakerness in the Yaeyaman Language(Hammine, 2020) Language Shift in the Ryukyu Islands (Anderson, 2019) Byron Fija on Ryukyuan Languages in Uchinaaguchi Ladino language Yonaguni film Yonaguni Fotografia Europea photo project (Anush Hamzehian and Vittorio Mortarotti- more info found here and catalogue found here) Rice Island, Satellite Island, Border Island: Yonaguni Across Time (Heinrich, 2021) Patrick on ResearchGate Madoka Hammine on ResearchGate If you are interested in Ryukyuan linguistics, check out previous Field Notes episodes with Prof. Michinori Shimoji and Madoka Hammine: Ep 28: Irabu Ryukyuan Language Documentation with Michinori Shimoji Ep 6: Madoka Hammine on Insider Research in the Ryukyus

This month's very special episode is with Myfany Turpin, an Associate Professor at the University of Sydney. Myfany has been working on Australian Aboriginal songs and languages since 1996. Her research interests include the relationship between language and music, especially of lesser-known cultures; and identifying ways to support the continuation of endangered languages and performance arts. Her work examines Aboriginal song-poetry and its relationship to spoken languages and the documentation of the Kaytetye language and encyclopaedic knowledge, an Arandic language of Central Australia. Things mentioned in this episode: ABC Radio National episodes Project page Pantjiti McKenzie-lu Inma Kulkalanyatjara Wangkanyi Pantjiti McKenzie talks about the ceremony ‘Kulkalanya’ Inma Kulkalanya Wangkanyi. Talking about the ceremony ‘Kulkalanya’. Iluwanti Mervyn, Tinpulya Ken, Josephine Mick and Renee Kulitja Buried in the Sand: Digging deep into Gudjal language and culture (Toksave: Culture Talks) Kaytetye recordings (Hale) Thangkerne birds indigemoji Myfany on Google Scholar Myfany on ResearchGate From June 2023, Field Notes will be taking a summer break, so look for new regular episodes coming September 2023. Bonus mini episode content (on Patreon) will continue as usual (throughout the summer) for patrons pledging $5/month and above. If you would like to support Field Notes on Patreon, you can do so here.

This month's episode is with Nicholas Welch from Memorial University of Newfoundland. Nicholas is the Canada Research Chair in Change, Adaptation and Revitalization of Aboriginal Languages and Assistant Professor at Memorial University of Newfoundland. He received his B.A. and M.A. in Linguistics from the University of Victoria. His Ph.D. is from the University of Calgary and his dissertation was entitled: "The bearable lightness of being: The encoding of coincidence in two- copula languages". He has done extensive research on Dene and Algonquian morphosyntax, and has also done language revitalization work with languages of Labrador. In addition to teaching and research, Nicholas also runs the YouTube channel, Labrador Languages Preservation Laboratory (LLPL).  Things mentioned in this episode: Na-Dene language family Tłı̨chǫ Yatıì language Tsúùt’ínà language Dene Dzage language Dëne Sųłıné language Algonquian language family Inuit language family Inuktitut language Miꞌkmaq language Slavey language family Mauritian Creole Twi language Nicholas on Google Scholar

Today's episode is with Jessica Coon, an Associate Professor in the Department of Linguistics at McGill University and Canada Research Chair in Syntax and Indigenous Languages.  Much of Jessica’s work has focused on Mayan languages, in particular Ch’ol (a language of southern Mexico) and Chuj (a language of Guatemala). She has also researched Mi’gmaq, an Algonquian language of eastern Canada. In addition to theoretical work on these languages, She has worked to build collaborations with the communities of speakers who are working to document, promote, and revitalize these languages. At McGill, Jessica co-leads the Montreal Under-documented Languages and Linguistics Lab. She is also the current director of the Indigenous Studies and Community Engagement Initiative (ISCEI). Jessica was also a consultant on the film Arrival, which features a field linguist as the main protagonist, played by Amy Adams.  Things mentioned in this episode: A return to "Arrival" (from Language Log) Mi’gmaq language Ch’ol language Chuj language Ep 30: Pedro Mateo Pedro on Mayan Language Research & Revitalization Jessica's website Jessica's publications (including TAM Split Ergativity) Jessica's PhD dissertation

This month's episode is with Eric W. Campbell, an Associate Professor of linguistics at University of California, Santa Barbara. Eric received his PhD from the University of Texas at Austin in 2014. Eric is a field linguist who is interested in all levels of linguistic structure and historical linguistics. Eric approaches language in its social and cultural context, focusing on less-studied languages, especially the Otomanguean languages spoken in Mexico and California. Things mentioned in this episode: Zapotec languages Purépecha language Chatino languages Zenzontepec Chatino Otomanguean languages Mayan languages Mixtec language San Martín Duraznos Mixtec (ELAR Deposit) The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman (1997) Hmong language MICOP Endangered Languages Documentation Programme Transient Waves (Eric’s band)   Mexican Indigenous Languages Promotion and Advocacy project (MILPA) Radio Indigena 94.1 FM Ep 27: Field Notes Live Show with Hilaria Cruz on Field Linguistics & Chatino Let's Learn Mixteco (Carmen Hernández Martínez) Let's Learn Mixteco Youtube channel (Carmen Hernández Martínez) Sà'án Sàvǐ ñà Yukúnanǐ (Jeremías Salazar & Guillem Belmar) Comachuen P'orhe Youtube channel (Martín Gabriel Ruiz)

This month's guest is Anthony C. Woodbury,  Professor of Linguistics at the University of Texas at Austin. Woodbury has taught in the UT Linguistics Department since 1980, serving as its chair for nine years. He was elected Fellow of the Linguistic Society of America in 2017, and Vice-President and President of the Society for 2022 and 2023. Woodbury's research focuses on the Indigenous languages of the Americas, and how they reveal general as well as historic linguistic diversity and creativity on the parts of their speakers. He began work with Unangan-Yupik-Inuit languages in 1974, especially Cup’ik in Chevak, Alaska, and in 2003 he became engaged, together with a cohort of then-graduate students, in the documentation and description of Chatino, an Otomanguean language group of Oaxaca, Mexico. Themes in his writing have included tone and prosody; morphology, syntax, and historical linguistics; ethnopoetics and speech play and verbal art; and language documentation, revitalization, and the role of linguistics in the struggle for human rights and intellectual justice, especially under conditions of language shift that is directly or indirectly coerced. He is also co-director, with Patience Epps, of the digital Archive for Indigenous Languages of Latin America at UT's Lozano Long Institute of Latin American Studies. He now centers his teaching on Ph.D. and other training in linguistics for speakers of Indigenous languages of the Americas. Things mentioned in this episode:  1. Onondaga language  2. Aleut language  4. Mayan languages  5. Sugt’stun (Pacific Yupik) language  6. Cugtun (Central Alaskan Yupik) language  7. Nora England Oral History Project  8. Anthony C. Woodbury on Google Scholar and Academia  9. Field Notes Patreon  10. Lingthusiasm Podcast  11. Superlinguo Blog  Recommended Reading:  Anthony C. Woodbury (2003). Defining documentary linguistics. In Peter K. Austin (ed.) Language Documentation and Description, vol 1. London: SOAS. pp. 35-51 http://www.elpublishing.org/docs/1/01/ldd01_05.pdf Anthony Woodbury, Compiler/Editor. 1984. Cev’armiut qanemciit qulirait=llu: Eskimo narratives and tales from Chevak, Alaska. Told by Tom Imgalrea, Jacob Nash, Thomas Moses, Leo Moses, and Mary Kokrak; translated by Leo Moses and Anthony Woodbury. Fairbanks: Alaska Native Language Center, University of Alaska. 88 pp. [Cup’ik texts with linguistic and cultural introduction.] Text Audio Emiliana Cruz & Anthony C. Woodbury. Collaboration in the context of teaching, scholarship, and language revitalization: Experience from the Chatino Language Documentation Project. Language Documentation & Conservation 8: 262-286. Special issue: Keren Rice & Bruna Franchetto, (guest eds.), Community Collaboration in the Americas. http://hdl.handle.net/10125/24607

Welcome to a new season of Field Notes! This month, Claire Bowern is on the pod for Season Four's inaugural episode. Claire Bowern is a historical linguist whose research is centered around language change and language documentation in Indigenous Australia. She received her BA in LInguistics and Classics from the Australian National University, and her PhD in linguistics from Harvard University. She works with speakers of endangered languages, with archival sound and print materials, and uses computational and phylogenetic methods. She is currently the editor of the journal Diachronica. She is a professor in Linguistics at Yale University, and is also the author of Linguistic Fieldwork: A Practical Guide (2008).  Things mentioned in this episode:  Bardi language Pama–Nyungan language Ngalia language  Australian Aboriginal English Australian Kriol River in Kullilli (with Toby Adams)  Kullilli Ngulkana Field Notes Ep 19: Dreamtime Narratives & Language Sustainability with Dorothea Hoffmann MalakMalak language Cherokee language  CHIRILA Claire on Twitter: @anggarrgoon  

In this final Season 3 episode, Gladys Camacho Ríos discusses her work on her native language, South Bolivian Quechua. Gladys works with elderly monolingual Quechua speakers in rural Bolivia. She is a PhD candidate in Linguistics at the University of Texas at Austin. She previously earned two MA degrees; one in Latin American Studies from New York University in 2016 and a MA in Linguistics from the University of Texas at Austin in 2019. Field Notes will be back in August 2022 with monthly episodes for Season 4. Things mentioned in this episode: South Bolivian Quechua Quechuan languages  Aymara language   Gladys on Twitter: @chhullunka  Linguistics Summer School Bolivia (LSSB)  LSSB Facebook 

Ana D. Alonso Ortiz is a Zapotec researcher and translator from Oaxaca, Mexico. She is an Associate Professor and Graduate Program Director of the Amerindian Studies and Bilingual Education master’s program at the University of Queretaro. Her research focuses on the language description and language revitalization of Yalalag Zapotec, specifically promoting the language by working with child language acquisition. She is currently developing a language course of Zapotec as a Second Language. Ana has worked on the production of educational materials in Zapotec in coordination with the Dill Yel Nbán Collective, a group of Zapotec scholars who seek to promote the Zapotec language. Ana received her PhD from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst in 2021. Things mentioned in this episode: Zapotec Languages  Yalálag Zapotec Ana on Academia Ana on Twitter: @AnaAlonsoOrtiz   Get in touch:  Website: https://fieldnotespod.com Email: fieldnotespod@gmail.com Twitter & Instagram: @lingfieldnotes  

This month's episode is with Dr. Azeb Amha from the University of Leiden. Azeb is a linguist with interest in the morphology and syntax of Afroasiatic languages, linguistic typology and in the interdisciplinary fields of anthropological linguistics and sociolinguistics. She has worked extensively on the documentation of  languages in Ethiopia, inclunding  Oyda, Wolaitta and Zargulla. She is an ELDP grant recipient, and a depositor with Dobes and the Endangered Languages Archive.  Things mentioned in this episode: Oyda language Aramaic language Wolaitta language Amharic language Semitic language family Omotic language family Cushitic language family Zargulla language deposit at ELAR: Documentation of house construction and terrace farming in Zargulla, an endangered Omotic language

This month's episode is with Michael Karani from the University of Dar es Salaam. Michael teaches linguistics and communication studies at Dar es Salaam. He holds a BA and an MA in Linguistics from the University of Dar es Salaam and a PhD in African Languages from Stellenbosch University. Michael conducted fieldwork for his native language, Arusa, which is a Maasai dialect spoken in Arusha, northern Tanzania, where he studied the Arusa verb system during his MA studies. For his PhD research he investigated verb morphology and argument structure in the Parakuyo dialect, another Maasai dialect spoken in northern and coastal areas in Tanzania. In this episode, we discuss Micheal's current research with Dr Alexander Andrason (Stellenbosch University) on Arusa ‘expressive grammar’, particularly ideophones, interjections and gestures. Things mentioned in this episode: Maasai language Swahili The Arusa Verb System by Micheal Karani (2013) Micheal on Academia, Google Scholar & ResearchGate Ep 20: Andrew Harvey & Richard Griscom on Teamwork in the Field Field Notes Patreon

This month’s episode is with Guillem Belmar from UC Santa Barbara. Guillem focuses his research on language revitalization strategies as well as documentation of endangered or minoritized languages. He has worked on language promotion for many European languages and runs the #europeminoritylanguages project on social media. He is currently involved with the project Maintaining Indigenous Languages within Immigrant Oaxacan Communities in the United States. In this episode we discuss Guillem’s work with his native language, Catalan, as well as Basque and Frisian.  Next month Field Notes will be taking a short break, if you’d like to hear more from the pod, check out the Field Notes Patreon.  Things mentioned in this episode: Catalan language  Indo-European language family  Frisian language  Basque language  Galician language  Amami Ōshima language Ergative–absolutive alignment  Guillem on twitter: @GuillemBelmar Guillem’s website

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 Mayan language family Qʼanjobʼal language  Yucatec Maya language Chuj language Kʼicheʼ language Mam language Guatemala Field Station

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: Tseltal language Mochoʼ language Yucatec Maya language Quechua language family Mayan language family Jaime's ELAR deposit: Documentation of Mocho’ (Mayan): Language Preservation through Community Awareness and Engagement Jaime's Academia page Mocho' materials at AILLA

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: Ryukyuan language family Miyako language Yaeyama language Yonaguni language Amami languages Palauan language Michinori's website

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