Tuesday, May 13, 2008

The pitfalls of working on endangered languages #4

Precious, precious words can be lost to the community, and to the researcher, when recordings purporting to create a permanent and comprehensive account of the language feature speakers talking with their fingers in their mouths.

When lacking the advanced deciphering skills of a dentist, it is advisible to refrain from asking speakers to discuss painful teeth (real or imagined), as such discussion may cause severe disturbance to the linguistic signal.

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