[Lingtyp] A terminological quandary: 'library studies'

[David Peterson]

Sorry... "library study"...

On Mon, Nov 23, 2020 at 12:56 AM David Peterson <david.a.peterson1 at gmail.com>
wrote:

> While I think the term Juergen suggested ("library work", I believe,)
> sounds fine, I've always thought of this as "bookwork". As opposed to
> "fieldwork", or "consultant-work", if you're not actually in the field.
> Best, Dave
>
> On Mon, Nov 23, 2020 at 12:42 AM Johanna Nichols <johanna at berkeley.edu>
> wrote:
>
>> I don't know -- to me both "grammar mining" and "armchair linguistics"
>> sound derogatory.  We all want grammar writing to be taken seriously
>> in the linguistics reward system, so use of those grammars is an
>> honorable undertaking and deserves an honorable label.
>>
>> Johanna Nichols
>>
>> On Sun, Nov 22, 2020 at 9:17 PM Ian Maddieson <ianm at berkeley.edu> wrote:
>> >
>> > Perhaps the term ‘armchair linguistics’ would have won the poll.
>> >
>> >
>> > On Nov 22, 2020, at 20:15, Bohnemeyer, Juergen <jb77 at buffalo.edu>
>> wrote:
>> >
>> > Dear all — Many thanks to everyone who participated in my poll!
>> >
>> > There were 39 responses. Exactly one third, 13, recognized ‘library
>> study’ as an established term. However, nearly half of those who did
>> proposed what they considered better alternatives. Meanwhile, two thirds of
>> respondents did not recognize ‘library study’ as a technical term.
>> >
>> > Of the suggested alternatives, the one that stood out for me is
>> ‘grammar mining’. Setting aside my lack of enthusiasm for ‘grammar’ as a
>> term for language descriptions, ‘grammar mining’ seems to invoke just the
>> right concept and has the edge of pizzaz/sexiness.
>> >
>> > Best — Juergen
>> >
>> > On Oct 21, 2020, at 7:40 PM, Bohnemeyer, Juergen <jb77 at buffalo.edu>
>> wrote:
>> >
>> > Dear colleagues — The purpose of this message is not to start another
>> debate on terminology. Rather, I’d simply like to gather data on how this
>> community views a particular terminological choice. I created a survey that
>> people can take anonymously, which should take them all of 60 seconds. I’ll
>> be happy to report the results on this board. Here is the link to the
>> survey:
>> >
>> > https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/G953WP7
>> >
>> > The issue concerns the term ‘library study’, when used to designate any
>> typological research design that draws primarily on existing language
>> descriptions. I have long considered ‘library study’ to be a
>> well-established technical term for this concept, and I’m unaware of
>> equally well-established terminological alternatives.
>> >
>> > Within typology, ‘library studies’ in this sense would contrast with
>> studies based on
>> >
>> > * typological databases such as WALS and AutoTyp;
>> >
>> > * primary data (prevalent in semantic typology; occurs more marginally
>> elsewhere);
>> >
>> > * expert questionnaires (as opposed to questionnaires administered to
>> speakers and designed for primary data collection; e.g. Comrie & Smith
>> 1977, as opposed to Dahl 1985);
>> >
>> > * anything else?
>> >
>> > I’m just trying to find out whether I’m an outlier.
>> >
>> > Note, this is not about whether one finds the label fitting or
>> unfortunate. All I’m trying to determine is whether to an audience of
>> typologists it gets the intended meaning across.
>> >
>> > Thanks! — Juergen
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > --
>> > Juergen Bohnemeyer (He/Him)
>> > Professor, Department of Linguistics
>> > University at Buffalo
>> >
>> > Office: 642 Baldy Hall, UB North Campus
>> > Mailing address: 609 Baldy Hall, Buffalo, NY 14260
>> > Phone: (716) 645 0127
>> > Fax: (716) 645 3825
>> > Email: jb77 at buffalo.edu
>> > Web: http://www.acsu.buffalo.edu/~jb77/
>> >
>> > Office hours will be held by Zoom. Email me to schedule a call at any
>> time. I will in addition hold Tu/Th 4-5pm open specifically for remote
>> office hours.
>> >
>> > There’s A Crack In Everything - That’s How The Light Gets In
>> > (Leonard Cohen)
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > --
>> > Juergen Bohnemeyer (He/Him)
>> > Professor, Department of Linguistics
>> > University at Buffalo
>> >
>> > Office: 642 Baldy Hall, UB North Campus
>> > Mailing address: 609 Baldy Hall, Buffalo, NY 14260
>> > Phone: (716) 645 0127
>> > Fax: (716) 645 3825
>> > Email: jb77 at buffalo.edu
>> > Web: http://www.acsu.buffalo.edu/~jb77/
>> >
>> > Office hours will be held by Zoom. Email me to schedule a call at any
>> time. I will in addition hold Tu/Th 4-5pm open specifically for remote
>> office hours.
>> >
>> > There’s A Crack In Everything - That’s How The Light Gets In
>> > (Leonard Cohen)
>> >
>> > _______________________________________________
>> > Lingtyp mailing list
>> > Lingtyp at listserv.linguistlist.org
>> > http://listserv.linguistlist.org/mailman/listinfo/lingtyp
>> >
>> >
>> > Ian Maddieson
>> >
>> > Department of Linguistics
>> > University of New Mexico
>> > MSC03-2130
>> > Albuquerque NM 87131-0001
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
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>
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