Kpelegbe: First Full Week (June 2026)

Here is a summary (by the numbers) of my first two weeks of being in the field doing work on the Kpelegbe dictionary.

Dates: 6/10-6/19

Consultants: 7 (2 men, 4 women)

Teams: 3

Days: 9

New lexical items: 191

Sound files: 1,131

New songs: 9

These first two weeks were devoted to moving, getting the teams together, training new people, greeting the chief, and getting the office and lodgings set up.

Based on this first period of work, I estimate that I can comfortably elicit 20 words a day (even a bit more). Since I have 30 more days of work, that makes a total of around 800 words for the entire summer, which is right on target. If I can meet that goal, I will have a dictionary of 1,500 words total by the end of the summer.