Linguist on the Loose

A vivid memoir of life in the field that highlights the importance of documenting indigenous languages

Lyle Campbell's linguistic fieldwork has taken him to numerous countries, sometimes in challenging circumstances. It has led to exciting discoveries including a new language in southeastern Guatemala, a unique speech sound, unknown in any other language, in the Nivacle language of Paraguay and Argentina, and unusual and unique features in several other languages. Along the way, he has experienced dangers and challenges, the joys and excitement of fieldwork, and encountered first-hand the importance of collaborating with indigenous groups to help document and revitalise their languages.

Written with humour, heart, and a clear dedication to endangered languages and their speakers, Lyle's vivid memoir is a lesson not only on life in the field but on the importance of language documentation. With so many of the world's languages being lost at an alarming rate, this remains the most compelling and urgent task for linguists now and into the future.

“A rollicking account of the dos and don'ts of fieldwork, richly exemplified from Campbell's decades of experience, Linguist on the Loose does for linguistics what Indiana Jones does for archaeology with the advantage that Linguist is all true: an impassioned plea for language documentation, a call to adventure.... and hard work.”

Campbell is an experienced guide to the "perils, parasites, politics, and violence" of linguistic fieldwork, as well as its joys. Linguist on the Loose: Adventures and misadventures in fieldwork would be instructive to those embarking on a career in this area of linguistics, as well as would-be explorers and travellers seeking adventure off the beaten track.--Graham Elliott "The Linguist"
Linguist on the Loose: Adventures and Misadventures in Fieldwork is undoubtedly a splendid publication by Lyle Campbell, a field linguist internationally recognized for his linguistic studies in the field of historical linguistics, but, above all, in the documentation, description and revitalization of endangered languages, having as its central focus the languages and cultures of the Amerindian peoples, who, for the most part, have become minorities within globalizing national societies.The contents carefully presented by Campbell are a clear example that it is possible to do linguistic science without neglecting its social contributions, mainly in those societies that are characterized by ethnic, linguistic and cultural diversity.--Angel Corbera Mori & Camille Cardoso Miranda, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Brasil "LIAMES, Campinas"
A rollicking account of the dos and don'ts of fieldwork, richly exemplified from Campbell's decades of experience, Linguist on the Loose does for linguistics what Indiana Jones does for archaeology with the advantage that Linguist is all true: an impassioned plea for language documentation, a call to adventure.... and hard work.--Prof. Judith Maxwell, Tulane University

Lyle Campbell is Professor of Linguistics at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa.

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