Lote is an Oceanic language of Papua New Guinea with which the author conducted brief field research in 2022. Although the language had already been relatively well described, it lacked full coverage in grammatical and lexical databases, which are valuable tools for typologists and historical linguists. This paper has two aims. The first is to present data on Lote that can be used to fill gaps in linguistic databases. The second is to offer suggestions to other linguists on how to help expand comparative databases, especially with data pertaining to languages of the Pacific.
We developed and used a series of simple images for eliciting nominal quantifiers in Akuzipik, an endangered Alaska Native language. We developed the images with an eye to "filling in" the existing documentation, having compared previously documented quantifiers to a cross-linguistic quantifier questionnaire. However, as the images were intended to elicit previously undocumented or under-documented quantifiers, they were designed to evoke general quantificational semantic spaces rather than specific English lexical items. After outlining our development process, we describe how the images were created using open-source software and how they were employed via a messaging client for distance fieldwork during the global pandemic. We then present and discuss successful and unsuccessful elicitation scenarios in which the images were employed and offer thoughts regarding their use. The images are available for use under a Creative Commons license.
In some local language communities, intergenerational transmission of the vernacular occurs later than expected. The aim of this study is to demonstrate that an under-documented acquisition pattern exists as a norm in many communities worldwide. We propose the term Deferred Vernacular Production (DVP) to refer to a language acquisition pattern in which members of a minority language community first acquire a majority language at home, and then later begin to naturally produce their local vernacular at some point after early childhood-outside the home, and without any intervention. Three case studies are provided: S & atilde;otomense, Angolar, and Molise Croatian. Differences in the timing of speech onset, defined as the phase of socialization when active use of the vernacular begins, are discussed in each case study. Reports of DVP in 31 languages across the globe are then provided, suggesting this is a worldwide phenomenon. A variant of this phenomenon, Prolonged Vernacular Acquisition (PVA), is proposed as a target for future research, along with a generic term, Late Vernacular Acquisition (LVA), to include both DVP and PVA. Finally, the diverse motivations reported by speakers for this practice are presented, and implications of DVP for language vitality studies are discussed.
The Institute on Collaborative Language Research (CoLang) is a biennial training venue for language documentation and revitalization. It aims to assist all stakeholders, who collaborate across the boundaries of speaking communities and academe. While including Indigenous participation has always been a goal of CoLang, that goal has been conceived and realized differently at each meeting, and it has been common for the number of non-Indigenous linguists to exceed that of Indigenous participants. To address this issue, when planning CoLang 2022 we focused on CoLang's stated goal by expanding on the concept of collaboration. As a result, the number of Indigenous attendees was twice what we expected, and over 70 Indigenous communities from throughout the world were represented. We consider that CoLang 2022 was a turning point in changing the approach to reach the actual goal of CoLang. We hope that the changes we initiated will be perpetuated and that persisting issues will be addressed at future CoLang Institutes. In this article, we (i) discuss the increase in Indigenous participation in CoLang 2022, (ii) describe the process of designing CoLang 2022 toward that goal, and (iii) address the issues and challenges that remain for future CoLang meetings.
Practitioners and researchers have argued that revitalizing a minoritized language requires fostering positive community attitudes towards that language. However, positive feelings for a heritage language do not necessarily correlate with behaviors or with positive feelings for one's own abilities. This article investigates individual language revitalization practitioners' attitudes and ideologies about L2 language learning through the lens of the word fluency. Drawing on analysis of qualitative interviews with 28 practitioners, I identify three different orientations to fluency suggested by the ways practitioners employed this key term: fluency as an ultimate L1-like competency standard, as a scalar measure for continual improvement, or as a way to itemize domains of language use. These orientations towards fluency suggest underlying ideologies of speaker legitimacy-whether L2 learners can be counted as legitimate users of the language. By considering orientations to this term, practitioners and researchers can carefully unpack ideologies in order to challenge deficit views of L2 users in revitalization and to foster positive momentum in community efforts.
