A discourse-based approach to the language documentation of local ecological knowledge

This paper proposes a discourse-based approach to the language documentation of local ecological knowledge (LEK). The knowledge, skills, beliefs, cultural worldviews, and ideologies that shape the way a community interacts with its environment can be examined through the discourse in which LEK emerges. ‘Discourse-based’ refers to two components: (1) the discovery and collection of LEK and its contexts through methods informed by the ethnography of communication, and (2) the analysis of speech that encodes LEK in the framework of Interactional Sociolinguistics. This discourse-based approach not only addresses the general need to accumulate more instances of speech (about LEK, or otherwise) in a documentary corpus, but also provides an analysis of the communicative event, one that sheds light on the dynamic nature of the content of that speech in the particular sociocultural context of that speech community, embedded in discursive moments. Fundamental to this approach is the need for collaboration across disciplines. This paper explores the links that can be made among the fields of language documentation, ethnobiology, and sociolinguistics. Taropwe ie e aweenenei ia usun iaash sipwé weewetei iaan arames kile are aweewen mé aitiitan masawan leeset, fanéú, mé fáán lááng—ie arames re kai úró ‘local ecological knowledge (LEK)’—ngé iaash weewetei mi alóngólóng óón iaan arames apworaus, are ‘discourse.’ Llan eeu mé eeu kinikinin shóón sóópw kewe, iaar túmwúnú meet masawan leeset, óón fanéú, are fáán lááng mi kan alóngólóng óón iaar kile, iaar féfféér, iaar lúúk, iaar weewe, o pwal iaar awennam, iwe ngé simi toonganei weewetei fishi iaan shóón sóópw kewe kile mé féfféér kare saa longeetei fishi are aúsaleng fishi nganei iaar kewe apworaus. Ei sokkon aweewe e alóngólóng óón ruwou kinikin: (1) eeu kinikin ewe re kai úró ‘the ethnography of communication’ (weewen, sipwé longeetei fishi meet mi ffis lúpwan arames raa kan kakkapas are apworaus fangan), ei mi ossen lómwót nganei iaash kaié nganei peekin LEK; o pwal (2) eeu kinikin ewe re kai úró ‘Interactional Sociolinguistcs’ (weewen, eeu sokkon aweewe e alóngolóng óón iaash sipwé longeetei fishi ttishikin me iáián kapas llan iaan arames kewe apworaus, ei mi ossen lómwót nganei peekin LEK). Ekkei sokkon kaié aa kan alapaala iaash weewetei iaan arames apworaus (usun LEK pwal ekkewe apworaus mé likin LEK) o aa kan pwal alúkkapaala iaash aweewe unusalapen masowan iaan arames apworaus. Emi aushea iaash sipwé angaang fangan reen iaash sipwé toonganei weewetei ekké sokkon apworaus. Ei taropwe e aweewenei lekóshun ekkei kinikinikin peekin kai\'e: language documentation, ethnobiology, mé sociolinguistics.National Foreign Language Resource Cente