In July 2022, we focused on lexical and syntactic elicitation. We recorded only a small amount of video since Zach and I already obtained a large amount in 2019. We did not do work with ELAN or with oral texts during this session. That is why ELAN is not listed below.
In the list below, I focus on fieldwork skills. The grammar content areas we covered can be found in the table of contents of Collins and Chebanne 2017.
Recording
1. Using Zoom H4n as an audio-interface.
2. Basic properties of the Zoom H4n.
3. Using cable, ‘dead cat’ and mic stand in recording.
4. Recording at the appropriate distance to get a high-quality signal.
5. Minimizing ambient noise (babies, chickens, generators, boreholes, etc.).
6. Cuing consultants for recording.
7. Eliciting slow speech.
8. Recording words (three repetitions).
9. Recording sentences (one repetition).
10. Creating backup sound files.
11. The importance of having backup equipment (including cables).
Praat
1. Identifying click type and accompaniment using Praat.
(e.g., aspiration versus delayed aspiration, glottal releases, uvular releases, etc.).
2. Using pitch track for tonal transcription.
3. Identifying vowel pharyngealization using Praat.
4. Basic Praat commands (CMD N, CMD X).
5. Adjusting pitch settings in Praat.
6. Concatenating files for comparison.
7. Comparing different words for one speaker.
8. Comparing different speakers for one word.
9. Naming and saving sound files in Praat.
10. Creating a ‘database’ of easily accessible recordings.
FLEx
1. Searching for an existing lexical item.
2. Creating a new lexical item (gloss, definition, category).
3. Combining and deleting lexical items.
4. Using filters to find subsets of words (e.g., words with ML tonal contour).
5. Adding a second sense to a lexical item.
6. Using Send/Receive (Language Depot) to back up and share a project.
Lexicon
1. Using animal and plant guides as sources.
2. Using lexicons of related languages to identify cognates.
3. Using lexicons of related languages to elicit new words.
4. Using Setswana dictionaries to help define words.
5. Using Setswana dictionaries to elicit new words.
6. Identifying borrowed words.
7. The importance of having both a Setswana and English glosses.
8. Finding and recording new words during syntax elicitation.
9. Finding new words during spontaneous discussion.
10. Having consultants choose the correct pronunciation between two alternatives.
Syntax
1. Using Setswana sentences to elicit Cua sentences.
2. Back-translating Cua into Setswana (Setswana Cua Setswana).
3. Identifying syntactic borrowings from Setswana into Cua.
4. Creating background contexts for sentence elicitation.
5. Using physical prompts to elicit sentences (e.g., locative relations).
6. Acting out scenarios for context (e.g., first person inclusive versus exclusive).
7. The structure of a descriptive grammar.
8. Writing a grammar chapter.
9. Understanding descriptive grammars versus theoretical papers.
10. Understanding the relation between documentation and theory.
11. Stating empirical generalizations clearly and non-technically.
12. Understanding observation versus generalization versus explanation.
13. The importance of writing up results in the field.
14. Eliciting minimal pairs.
15. Using Praat to accurately transcribe sentences.
16. Using Leipzig glossing conventions.
17. Organizing a fieldwork session around a topic (e.g., yes-no questions).
18. Recording metadata for a session.
19. Understanding issues with obtaining ‘grammaticality judgments’.
20. Defining relevant terminology for writing a descriptive grammar
(e.g., universal quantification, juncture morpheme, vocative, causative, etc.).
21. Practice drawing syntax trees.
22. Data sources: elicitation versus oral texts.
Phonology/Phonetics
1. Practice with IPA.
2. Practice pronouncing and transcribing various clicks (e.g., alveolar versus palatal).
3. Practice pronouncing and transcribing various click accompaniments.
4. Practice pronouncing and transcribing various tonal melodies.
5. Practice pronouncing and transcribing sentences.
Tonal Transcription
1. Recognizing the eight tonal contours of Cua.
2. Recognizing tonal depression (D-HM and D-HL).
3. Using pitch tracks from Nakagawa’s thesis and Mathes’ thesis.
4. Creating and using a Tone Matching List.
5. Looking for cognates in Kua, Gǀui and Tsua.
6. Recording a word in context (to see relative pitch).
7. Using tonal sandhi to diagnose the tonal contour.
Video
1. Using the run-and-gun set up for video recording
(Rode mic on top of Cannon DSLR video camera).
2. Positioning interviewer, translator and interviewee for high quality recording.
3. Planning an interview.
Consultants
1. Interacting with illiterate consultants.
2. Working with consultants who do not speak English.
3. Working with a translator (English-Setswana).
4. Interacting with consultants from a different culture.
5. Interacting with a translator from a different culture.
6. Finding consultants in the village.
7. Finding a translator.
8. Training consultants for linguistic fieldwork.
9. Training a translator for linguistic fieldwork.
10. Resolving conflicts and miscommunication with the consultants.
11. Resolving conflicts and miscommunication with the translator.
12. Using information from an identification card.
13. Paying consultants, writing receipts, getting signatures.
14. Evaluating and using strengths of different consultants.
15. Working with two consultants at a time.
16. Working with more than one consultant group for comparison.
17. Recognizing dialectal differences between consultants.
18. Recognizing speech impediments.
19. Structuring schedule (days, times, breaks).
20. Human Subjects approval of research.
21. Using consent forms.
Fieldwork General
1. Learning basic Setswana (the lingua franca of Botswana).
2. Living in a rural village.
3. The advantages and disadvantages of working in a village (versus the capital).
4. Adaptability: Doing fieldwork in a difficult environment.
5. Overcoming obstacles.
6. Being a member of research project.
7. Communicating questions and observations in a research team.
8. Organizing research, by focusing on areas. Prioritizing.
Solar Panel
1. Basic set-up (panel, battery, controller, inverter, cables)
2. Capacity (charge four laptops and cell phones on sunny day).
3. Trouble shooting set up.
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