Language Documentation, Field-work Training Models, and Computational Tools for Understanding Linguistic Stability and Change

Proficiency in a shared language is needed for carrying out basic trade and commerce as well as other social functions. Nevertheless, one can observe established regional varieties at village, city, state, and country levels. Jeffery Good from the State University of New York at Buffalo, seeks to explain factors such as ethnicity, social class, gender, prestige, and region which help maintain linguistic differences across language or dialect varieties. It is important to know which factors might destabilize the linguistic balance in a region as these same factors might also lead to other social instability. Analyzing natural un-prompted language over a three-year period and systematically linking language use to social situations and communication networks, Good will seek explanations for persistent language maintenance, change, or shift in highly multilingual communities of Sub-Saharan Africa, specifically various Bantoid languages of the Lower Fungom region of the Cameroon. Each language and dialect under study will be documented by local scholars under the supervision of Good and his team. A new computational tool will be developed to support data management for the vast quantities of raw audio, video, and transcription and translation data gathered by local scholars who will take part in the research. This aspect of the work will produce both computational models and software resources for other documentary projects that seek to employ large teams in data collection.