Documentary and descriptive linguistics

Himmelmann, Nikolaus P.

doi:10.1515/ling.1998.36.1.161

Cited by 331 publications

(150 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…http://retractionwatch.com/ 4 e.g. http://reproducibleresearch.net/blog/ 5 We note that our position paper is being published exactly two decades after Himmelmann (1998), and the collection and preservation of primary data still have not broadly received the theoretical and practical attention they deserve.…”

Section: On Valuing Reproducibility In Science and Linguisticsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reproducible research in linguistics: A position statement on data citation and attribution in our field

et al. 2017

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This paper is a position statement on reproducible research in linguistics, including data citation and attribution, that represents the collective views of some 41 colleagues. Reproducibility can play a key role in increasing verification and accountability in linguistic research, and is a hallmark of social science research that is currently under-represented in our field. We believe that we need to take time as a discipline to clearly articulate our expectations for how linguistic data are managed, cited, and maintained for long-term access.

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Section: On Valuing Reproducibility In Science and Linguisticsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reproducible research in linguistics: A position statement on data citation and attribution in our field

et al. 2017

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“…The foregoing has invariably given a clear-cut distinction between linguistic documentation and usual linguistic description. According to Himmelmann (1998), one of the ultimate aims of language documentation is the production of a detailed and comprehensive record of the linguistic practices peculiar of a given speech community. He further clarifies the practices as both noticeable linguistic behaviour often made manifest in the speech act of members of the speech community, and the native speakers' metalinguistic intuition that enables them to provide interpretations and systematizations for linguistic units and events.…”

Section: Illustrates This Furthermentioning

confidence: 99%

Linguistic analysis of the structure of Yoruba numerals

Babarinde

2014

Language Matters

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This paper adopts a descriptive approach in analyzing the counting system of the Yoruba language. It explains the technicalities of its arithmetical involvements which appear to have been contributing to the difficulty often encountered in its learning. The study relies on three major sources in gathering data for the descriptive analysis, namely, compilation of relevant list of Yoruba numerals, the researcher's intuitive knowledge of the language coupled with his training as a linguist, and a search of the relevant literature. The work throws more light on the crucial roles of some affixes in realizing some odd numbers, multiples of twenty, centenary, bicentenary etc in their order of increase. The paper goes much further to examine the linguistic structure of numerals in a bid to bring to light some salient linguistic features that are of significant interest to the teaching of the grammar of the language. Here, we discover that Yoruba numerals derive more of its formation from different aspects of the language structure like sound level (phonology), form/structure level (morphology and syntax), and meaning level (semantics) as evidenced in instances like deletion, assimilation, coalescence, tonal changes, ambiguity, affixation, linguistic typology to mention a few. We also discover that unlike in English, the direction of counting in Yoruba is done from right-to-left. Not only this, it adopts base five, decimal (base ten) and vigesimal systems of counting. This is because the language employs a numeral structure where counting is done mostly in multiples of ogún (twenty). We therefore hope that the detail analysis given in this work will not only fill a gap in the study of the Yoruba language in particular but will also lead to the expansion of Yoruba linguistic database in general. We admit the views of the scholars that linguistic documentation such as this is necessary not only for the study of the language but for the record-keeping of its norm and values which are fast giving way for the impact of technology and domineering influence of the world languages.

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“…As linguists, we want to build an ever growing body of primary data encompassing every known human language. We want to analyze that documentary material to develop an ever growing body of secondary, descriptive data (Himmelmann 1998). We then want to mine that body of data about individual languages to build an ever growing body of frontier knowledge about the workings of language in general, and ultimately to refine that body of frontier knowledge to build an ever growing body of textbook knowledge on language and linguistics.…”

Section: Development As Freedommentioning

confidence: 99%

12. Linguistics as a community activity: The paradox of freedom through standards

Simons¹

2009

Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today

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The Internet has given us a new playing field for global collaboration. It could transform the practice of linguistics through universal access to huge quantities of digital language documentation and description. But this transformation can happen only if certain aspects of community practice are formalized by defining and adhering to shared standards. After expanding on the vision for what linguistics could be like in the twentyfirst century, this essay attempts to clarify the role of standards by considering two case studies of life with and without standards-using solar time versus standard time, and using language names versus language identifiers. The essay then develops two metaphors that seek to put standards in a positive light: "linguistics as community" and "development as freedom." The ultimate conclusion is that only by submitting to the constraints of shared standards will the community be free to develop the riches of knowledge it is seeking.

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Documentary and descriptive linguistics

Cited by 331 publications

References 29 publications

Reproducible research in linguistics: A position statement on data citation and attribution in our field

Reproducible research in linguistics: A position statement on data citation and attribution in our field

Linguistic analysis of the structure of Yoruba numerals

12. Linguistics as a community activity: The paradox of freedom through standards

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