Table Of ContentL
‘A rollicking account of the dos and don’ts of fieldwork, richly
exemplified from Campbell’s decades of experience, Linguist on the I
N
Loose does for linguistics what Indiana Jones does for archaeology
with the advantage that Linguist is all true: an impassioned plea for G
language documentation, a call to adventure… and hard work.’
U
Judith Maxwell, Tulane University
I
‘This remarkable book, part fieldwork advice and part fieldwork
S
autobiography, is written by one of the most experienced field
linguists in the world. Practical advice on such topics as what to take T
to the field and how to avoid exotic diseases and political violence
is punctuated by sometimes hair-raising personal anecdotes.’ O
Sarah G. Thomason, University of Michigan N
Lyle Campbell’s linguistic fieldwork has taken him to numerous T L Y L E C A M P B E L L
countries, sometimes in challenging circumstances. It has led to H T
S
exciting discoveries including a new language in southeastern E N G U I
L I
Guatemala, a unique speech sound, unknown in any other
L
language, in the Nivaclé language of Paraguay and Argentina,
and unusual and unique features in several other languages. Along O E
S
O
the way, he has experienced dangers and challenges, the joys and O
L
O
excitement of fieldwork, and encountered first-hand the importance O N
of collaborating with indigenous groups to help document and S
revitalise their languages. T H E
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for linguists now and into the future. ML
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P
LYLE CAMPBELL has dedicated his career to the indigenous BL
languages of the Americas, language documentation and EE
revitalization, historical linguistics, and language typology. L
L
Cover image: © Shutterstock.com
Cover design: www.paulsmithdesign.com
ISBN 978-1-4744-9414-4
edinburghuniversitypress.com
FOREWORD BY WADE DAVIS
LINGUIST ON THE LOOSE
LINGUIST ON
THE LOOSE
Adventures and
Misadventures in Fieldwork
Lyle Campbell
Edinburgh University Press is one of the leading university presses in the UK.
We publish academic books and journals in our selected subject areas across the
humanities and social sciences, combining cutting-edge scholarship with high
editorial and production values to produce academic works of lasting importance.
For more information visit our website: edinburghuniversitypress.com
© Lyle Campbell, 2022
Cover image: © Shutterstock.com
Cover design: www.paulsmithdesign.com
Edinburgh University Press Ltd, The Tun—Holyrood Road,
12(2f) Jackson’s Entry, Edinburgh EH8 8PJ
Typeset in 11/15 Adobe Garamond by
Servis Filmsetting Ltd, Stockport, Cheshire,
printed and bound in Great Britain.
A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 978 1 4744 9414 4 (hardback)
ISBN 978 1 4744 9415 1 (paperback)
ISBN 978 1 4744 9416 8 (webready PDF)
ISBN 978 1 4744 9417 5 (epub)
The right of Lyle Campbell to be identified as the author of this work has been
asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, and the
Copyright and Related Rights Regulations 2003 (SI No. 2498).
Contents
List of figures vi
Foreword by Wade Davis x
Preface xvi
Acknowledgements xviii
1 Introduction: What’s a linguist do, anyway?,
What’s linguistic fieldwork? 1
2 Fieldwork adventure 26
3 Discoveries 39
4 Finding language consultants and working with them 75
5 Perils, parasites, politics, and violence 117
6 Eating, drinking, and matters of health 164
7 Surviving fieldwork: Travel and living in the field 179
8 What next?: What is needed in endangered language
research? 235
References 262
Subject index 273
Languages, language families, and ethnic groups index 285
v
Figures
1.1 Lyle Campbell, fieldwork in Misión La Paz (Salta
Province, Argentina, 2010) 10
1.2 Alphabet posters for the school: team production
(led by Nancy García, graduate research assistant)
(Misión La Paz, Salta Province, Argentina, 2008) 18
1.3 Fishing with diving nets, Chorote, Nivaclé, and Wichí
speakers (Pilcomayo River, Misión La Paz, Salta
Province, Argentina, 2005) 19
2.1 Lyle Campbell with armadillo (Misión La Paz,
2007) 27
2.2 Don Francisco Calvo Pérez (Trinitaria, Chiapas,
Mexico, 1986) 35
3.1 Don Altín getting honey (Misión La Paz, Salta
Province, Argentina, 2006) 63
3.2 Lhte’ech bloodletting bone tool (April, 2021; gift from
don Altín, Misión La Paz, Salta Province, Argentina,
2010) 67
3.3 Piranha bite (Misión La Paz, Salta Province, Argentina,
2007) 69
vi
figures | vii
3.4 Trough for making chicha (with Luis Díaz, Misión La
Paz, Salta Province, Argentina, 2007) 71
3.5 Don Altín making tinderhorns (for when there are no
matches) (Misión La Paz, Salta Province, Argentina,
2007) 72
4.1 Language revitalization materials: booklets in Chorote,
Nivaclé, and Wichí produced in the Chaco language
documentation project. (Misión La Paz, Salta Province,
Argentina, 2008) 76
4.2 Felipa and Beatriz firing pots (Pipil) (Santo Domingo
de Guzmán, El Salvador, 1976) 86
4.3 Don Rafael Hernández, guide (on the left), with
Tojoloabal speakers (Chiapas, Mexico, 1986) 88
4.4 Luis Díaz with fish (Misión La Paz, Salta Province,
Argentina, 2007) 94
4.5 Don Altín with caiman hide (Misión La Paz, Salta
Province, Argentina, 2005) 96
4.6 Don Altín singing with drum and rattle (Misión La
Paz, Salta Province, Argentina, 2007) 97
4.7 Don Laureano Segovia (Wichí) (Misión La Paz, Salta
Province, Argentina, 2006) 99
4.8 Hugo Gonzáles singing Chorote songs (Misión La Paz,
2007) 100
4.9 Fieldwork with Teresa Ramos and Josefa Ampú (doña
Teresa does not know Spanish, but speaks Nivaclé and
understands Chorote) (Misión La Paz, Salta Province,
Argentina, 2004) 112
5.1 Scorpion (Misión La Paz, Salta Province, Argentina,
2008) 123
5.2 Vinchuca bug (Misión La Paz, Salta Province,
Argentina, 2005) 125
5.3 Anaconda skin (with don Altín and Franco, Misión La
Paz, Salta Province, Argentina, 2006) 126
viii | LINGUIST ON THE LOOSE
5.4 Snake that tried to visit me in the night (Misión La
Paz, Salta Province, Argentina, 2013) 127
5.5 Snake track (Misión La Paz, Salta Province, Argentina,
2007) 128
5.6 Snake skin (with Fernando Ángel, Misión La Paz, Salta
Province, Argentina, 2013) 129
5.7 Coral snake (Misión La Paz, Salta Province, Argentina,
2004) 130
5.8 Fernando Ángel recording (Misión La Paz, Salta
Province, Argentina, 2008) 131
5.9 Asencio (Misión La Paz, Salta Province, Argentina,
2007) 132
5.10 Clay slingshot balls (Misión La Paz, Salta Province,
Argentina, 2007) 140
5.11 Owl (with Franco, Misión La Paz, Salta Province,
Argentina, 2007) 141
5.12 Dog with vampire bat bite (Misión La Paz, Salta
Province, Argentina, 2007) 143
5.13 Lyle Campbell with Chorote-speaking parrot
(Misión La Paz, Salta Province, Argentina, 2006) 144
5.14 Coca sign: “There is coca and lime (bicarbonate of
soda)” (Tartagal, Salta Province, Argentina, 2013) 156
5.15 Coca leaves for sale (Tartagal, Salta Province,
Argentina, 2007) 157
6.1 Cooking our dinner in Misión La Paz (Salta Province,
Argentina, 2008) 166
7.1 Piqueteros roadblock (main highway north of Tartagal,
Salta Province, Argentina, 2007) 191
7.2 Fieldwork with Mam while seeking Chicomuceltec
(Lyle Campbell with Mam-speaking immigrants, Paso
Hondo, Chiapas, Mexico, 1986) 193
7.3 Combing hair with bundled hair of an anteater’s tail
