Not dead yet (fwd)

[phil cash cash]

NOT DEAD YET

 Web Exclusive  7 March 2006, 12:26. cribnotes[1]. By Seva Rodnyansky. 
http://www.nuviews.org/article/cribnotes/20060307/67/not-dead-yet

  What do linguists physically do? That’s a question I’ve pondered when
trying to decide whether to take courses in the subject. As it turns out,
linguists don’t just sit around making vowel sounds, but do plenty of field
work with words and languages.  

  One branch deals with researching dead or dying languages and attempting to
reconstruct their words and grammatical structures. Prof. Monica Macaulay from
UW-Madison is one such linguist. She works with the languages of the Mixtec
people from Mexico and the Menominee people from Wisconsin. Both languages have
almost ceased to exist. 

  Two decades ago, as a graduate student, Macaulay went to a tiny mountain
village in the state of Oaxaca in Mexico to research the ancient Mixtec
language, which has very few modern-day speakers. She encountered many
hardships along the way, many that could have been prevented with better
instruction and preparation. For example, it was much colder than she expected
and there was little or no food most of the week. She also did not think to ask
the leader of the village for permission to research the subjects, who were
villagers. 

  All of these concerns could have been solved if only her professors would
have warned her or if there was written material on linguistic field work.
Macaulay says that in the two decades since, the situation has been only
slightly ameliorated—some texts on the subject have appeared and the Internet
has helped with issues like assessing the climate or the food supply. She can
now instruct her students to prepare seriously by reading anthropological
texts. 

  Most recently, Macaulay has been working with the Menominee people in
Wisconsin. Since they are in the U.S., these subjects are easier to work with
in terms of food and climate. On the other hand, they are not always receptive
to research, wishing to safeguard their secrets because they are afraid of
people using their culture for a profit. They frequently ask why scholars are
interested in Menominee research. 

  Macaulay and her team are in the midst of constructing a Menominee dictionary
in three levels: beginner, intermediate, and advanced. Upon the request of the
Menominee, this dictionary will be organized by categories of words, such as
fruit, colors, animals. An online version with pictures and pronunciations will
aid learners of all ages. 

  Unfortunately, Macaulay’s work with the Menominee may be coming to a
crashing end. In the fall, several of the elders that Macaulay had worked with
passed away, and recently, the tribal council that remains has not let her
continue her research. While Macaulay is trying to rectify her relationship
with the tribe and the council, work on the dictionary continues. 

  Clearly, working with these indigenous populations has proven difficult for
Macaulay. She has had to put herself wholly into the research, whether going to
the middle of nowhere in South Mexico, or working through misunderstandings in
northeast Wisconsin. Still, despite these hardships, linguistic research
remains her passion. Her work with the Menominee and the Mixtec has let her
give back to those communities while also creating a scientific body of
knowledge. 

  DATE: 2006-01-31 
SPONSOR: Language and Cognition Colloquium  



Links:
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[1] http://www.nuviews.org/category/cribnotes/
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