Language documentation and description approaches in ecolinguistics
A language documentation approach applied in ecolinguistics could include documenting lesser-known and undocumented languages, specifically, local varieties, indigenous and ancestral languages. Data included in such a study would include consulting with archival data when available and conducting interviews with locals who can share insights into place names, plants, and a variety of environment-related phenomena.
An example of this would be working with a speech community with whom a linguist conducts interviews with the intention to recognize Traditional Knowledge, knowledge, skills and practices that are maintained through generations that form part of a cultural identity. Concretely this could include local place and plant names (or anything that the community themselves wish to highlight) and document it in a way that benefits the community. Local signs could be created and sessions held to teach locals about different concepts and information discovered during the research as well as discuss how the research can be continued locally. Documenting local language and including locals can increase the sense of agency locally and increase awareness locally on a language that is marginalized or endangered, for example.
Place name examples from fieldwork[edit | edit source]
To give an example to provide insights, we will look to local names in the Xiberoa region of the Basque Country in France. A village called Lexantzü, in addition to village descriptions to come, can point to reasons why uncovering local names can be fruitful. In Basque, Lexantzü, meaning ash tree, referring to the type of tree that grows locally in the area. The French name created during the nation-building phase of France is Lichans, which has an empty meaning.[1] This same village is combined with Zunharre administratively, so it is referred to as Lexantzü-Zunharre or Lichans-Sunhar. The same logic goes here Sunhar is a name adapted into with French spelling and pronunciation conventions while Zunharre refers to the elm tree that also grows locally. Many local places names refer to the environment and provide insight in what grows there among other meanings.
Additionally, Larraine, another local village in Xiberoa that roughly translates to "the higher ground" or "highlands" literally it can be understood as the "upper moor". The French version is Larrau, which has been adapted for the same reasons explained already above. This page is not to imply that these are anything special or out of the ordinary because in Scotland there is also "the Scottish highlands"[2] or "Kallio" an area of Helsinki, Finland that got its name for the rock and stone in the area. The object of this page is rather to highlight that local names have meanings and that beyond these examples the meanings may have significance locally that translated names adapted into other languages commonly do not reflect.
The final example is of a town also in the Xiberoa region of the Basque Country called Atharratze in Basque and Tardets in French. The French name is once again a created French name and Atharratze is understood as "the last door" and specifically the last door before the mountains and has a special significance locally. There have been several interpretations of the towns name and its meaning; however, the meaning explained here tends to be the common interpretation [3]
- ↑ These anecdotes come from interviews conducted by Kayleigh Karinen during August and October 2022 while gathering data for her master's thesis.
- ↑ In Scottish Gaelic the region is referred to as "the place of the Gaels" [1]
- ↑ Also heard from data collected on a research trip and one consult suggested that the meanings in Basque be explained to create a sense of value for the local language and interests for those who do not speak Basque.
