Healey, Alan. 1964. "Handling unsophisticated linguistic informants". Canberra: Australian National University.
Goals
This textbook provides a general guideline to field work, giving hints on the best way to observe a linguistic event or to collect data.
Protocol summary
It is divided in 6 sections, except for the introduction and a 'general approach' :
- Linguistic surveys
- Investigating phonology
- Pair testing
- Eliciting grammar monolingually
- Determining meaning
- Using tape recorders
Development context
''this paper descrIbes the author's methods of handling unsophisticated informants while investigating the Teleefool language spoken by about 4000 people in the vicinity of Telefomin, Territory of New Guinea. The discussion includes several aspects of field methodology that have received scant attentIon in the literature to date: linguistic surveys, pair testing for phonology, monolingual informants, and the uses of tape recorders.'' (Healey, 1964: 1)
Reviews
Review by Kenneth L. HALE – marie.benzerrak
1966-07-01
''This short but interesting essay is partly a case study-it is a description of the methods that its author used while doing linguistic field work with speakers of TeleCfodl in the Territory of New Guinea. The issues discussed seem, however, to be universally valid for linguistic field work among nonliterate peoples. The essay is apparently aimed at those who have done little or no linguistic field work, since those who have worked extensively with informants will find the methods... + Read more
