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ELDP Data Collection: Some Baram Experiences

This project aims to document the endangered Baram language, a Tibeto-Burman language spoken in western Nepal. The objectives include creating a corpus, ethnographic profile, dictionary, and sketch grammar. Fieldwork and data collection began in 2007, with the help of language consultants. The project faced challenges in finding consultants and recording various genres. However, a representative corpus was created, and analysis of the texts was conducted.

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ELDP Data Collection: Some Baram Experiences

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  1. ELDP Data Collection: Some Baram Experiences Dubi Nanda Dhakal Tej Ratna Kansakar, Yogendra Prasad Yadava, Balaram Prasain, Krishna Prasad Chalise, Krishna Poudel Linguistic and Ethnographic Documentation of the Baram Language (LEDBL), Tribhuvan University Nepal

  2. Introduction • Linguistic and Ethnographic Documentation of the Baram Language (LEEBL) has been supported by Endangered Language Documentation Programme (ELDP), School of Oriental land African Studies (SOAS), University of London and hosted by Tribhuvan University, Nepal. • May 2007 to April 2010.

  3. Baram language • A Tibeto-Burman language spoken in western Nepal. • Census (2001): Speakers 342 • Our field survey: Speakers below 50 in number. • All of them are above 50.

  4. Objectives • Corpus • Ethnographic profile • Dictionary • Sketch grammar • Primer

  5. Fieldwork and setting • Fieldwork for data collection began in November 2007. • Baram settlements are scattered at a distance of a few kilometers • Agriculture is their main profession • Filled up sociolinguistic questionnaires which helped identify the language consultants • The language is not used in natural setting.

  6. Data collection • Tried to capture several communicative events following Himmelmann (1998) • Ethnographic topics (Franchetto (2006) • Genres (Lupke 2005) • Grammar (Leech and Svartvik 1994) • Other possible genres

  7. Inventory of communicative events/genres (based on Himmelmann 1998) • Exclamative • Directive • Conversational • Monological • Ritual • Grammar • Others

  8. Please see at the back of the handout.

  9. Language consultants Dambar Bahadur Baram • Age: 56 • Can speak for a long time • Has been working with since December 2007 • Very useful in making paradigms and data elicitation for writing grammar

  10. Dambar Bahadur Baram

  11. Mina Baram • Age:68 • Can speak for a long time • Texts have coherence • A good narrator • Has contributed several texts related to procedural texts, reminiscences etc.

  12. Mina Baram

  13. Tok Man Baram • Age: 64 • Speaks relatively for a short time • Texts have coherence • Has contributed texts related to myths, folk tales, procedural texts etc.

  14. Tok Man Baram

  15. Tek Bahadur Baram • Age: 68 • Speaks relatively for a short time • Text has coherence • Contributed the texts related to cultural objects and ritual items/processes

  16. Tek Bahadur Baram

  17. Sample annotated lines ref 029 \ut hai hai ŋə... nidum \ELANBegin 00:01:22.060 \ELANEnd 00:01:23.560 \ELANParticipant RAM \txd हाइ हाइ ङ निदुम् \tx hai hai ŋə... nidum \mb hai hai ŋə... ŋi- dum \ge what what GF NPST- find \ft whatever available \ftn जे जे पाइन्छ

  18. \ref 032 \ut hm... bən pəsdi lə pəchi lə \ELANBegin 00:01:27.770 \ELANEnd 00:01:30.480 \ELANParticipant RAM \txd ह्म बन पस्दिल पछि ल \tx hm... bən pəsdi lə pəchi lə \mb hm... bən pəs -di lə pəchi lə \ge GF forest enter -NTVZ PART later PART \ft after entering the forest \ftn बन पसे पछि त

  19. Methodology • Direct elicitation (for grammar) • Narration • Role play • Stimuli

  20. Stimuli • Photographs • Documentary/films • Song clips • Questions (Typed on the laptop)

  21. Setting • Controlled (Most sessions were recorded in our field office in Gorkha) • Natural (A few texts were recorded in the field) • We are advised to record the sessions so that the recordings do not have any disturbances.

  22. softwares used • ELAN (3.6.0) • Toolbox (1.5.3) • Audacity (1.2.6) • Adobe Premiere Pro (7.0) • IMDI (3.0)

  23. Problems • Finding language consultants • Some texts have no coherence • Some texts seem to be translation of the Nepali texts into Baram • Difficult to make balanced and representatiave corpus.

  24. Genres difficult to record • Natural conversation • Ritual (language, ritual wailing) • Riddles • Proverbs • Songs • Formal genres (announcement, speech, letters etc.) • Some sessions related to grammar

  25. Corpus • We have tried to make our corpus representative in terms of communicative events, genres, grammatical sessions etc. • However, some genres are very rare and difficult to record like natural conversation, ritual language, ritual wailing, proverbs, riddles etc.

  26. Conclusion • Make an inventory of communicative events and genres • Work with different speakers • Make an analysis of the texts of different speakers • Make your sessions of moderate length. • Record some sessions related to grammar as well.

  27. Language consultants

  28. Thank You

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