34.1043, FYI: Tales from Tanzania: Part 1

[The LINGUIST List]

LINGUIST List: Vol-34-1043. Tue Mar 28 2023. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 34.1043, FYI: Tales from Tanzania: Part 1

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      Maria Lucero Guillen Puon, Billy Dickson
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Editor for this issue: Maria Lucero Guillen Puon <luceroguillen at linguistlist.org>
================================================================


Date: Tue, 28 Mar 2023 22:46:35
From: Lucero Guillen [luceroguillen at linguistlist.org]
Subject: Tales from Tanzania: Part 1

 
Tales from Tanzania: Part 1

The “work” in fieldwork long precedes the “field” portion. Personal
preparation—both physical and mental—and the painstaking pursuit of funding
often occurs years before one has the opportunity to sit with a language
speaker to begin the actual research. In my case, I began seeking research
funds in 2019 but did not depart for the field until the very end of 2021 and
only actually sat with a speaker in 2022. Over the next few weeks, I will
share with you a bit of my story as a field linguist in Tanzania.

My name is Jeremy Coburn, and I am a Ph.D. candidate in linguistics at Indiana
University and former editor for the LINGUIST List. My dissertation research
focuses on the phonetics and phonology of Hadza, a language isolate spoken in
northern Tanzania. In 2020, I was awarded a Fulbright-Hays Doctoral
Dissertation Research Abroad (DDRA) fellowship to conduct dissertation
fieldwork with the Hadza people in Tanzania for 10 months, set to begin in
March of 2021. Procuring funding for research is, in my opinion, the most
tedious (though necessary) part of academia, so I was extremely grateful to
have secured a DDRA fellowship. However, as was the case for many field
linguists, the COVID-19 pandemic derailed the start date of my research.
Eleven days before I was to depart for Tanzania—with my wife and two children,
nonetheless—we were told that our trip had to be postponed indefinitely due to
a rise in COVID cases in Tanzania. We were dumbstruck and unsure how to
approach this reality, having already ended my employment, moved out of our
rented housing, and packed all our belongings.

With that uncertainty looming, we bounced around through four apartments as we
waited to be approved for travel. It was a very difficult time for our family,
as it was many others. Finally, in October of 2021 we received the
long-awaited news that we were allowed to travel. December 1, 2021, we boarded
an airplane bound for Tanzania, nine months after our original expected start
date.

Fieldwork is a multifaceted endeavor, requiring not just intellectual prowess
within one’s field of study, but often also mental and physical fortitude,
interpersonal understanding, and versatility. The labor involved in getting to
the point of beginning my fieldwork was only a precursor to the challenges—and
good fortunes—that awaited me in the field.

Next week, the second installment of this series “Tales from Tanzania” will
provide insight into the language of study, its speakers and context.

Jeremy Coburn
Ph.D. candidate
Indiana University
 



Linguistic Field(s): Not Applicable





 



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