Comments on: Fieldwork snippet: What is the difference between these words? http://ideophone.org/response-strategies-in-fieldwork/ Sounding out ideas on African languages, sound symbolism, and expressivity Thu, 26 Aug 2010 23:27:59 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: Mark Dingemanse http://ideophone.org/response-strategies-in-fieldwork/comment-page-1/#comment-238 Mark Dingemanse Thu, 03 Apr 2008 12:27:25 +0000 http://ideophone.org/response-strategies-in-fieldwork/#comment-238 Dear Prof. Diffloth, Thank you for your helpful comments. In fact this was just one of many different types of sessions I did, and it was selected here not so much for its ideophonic content but rather because of the lessons for fieldwork drawn from it. It was a list of ideophones, though, not mixed with ordinary vocabulary (the egg only comes in because it is an example of the ideophone <em class='langdata'>sɔdzɔlɔɔ</em>). We went through the list and discussed the words in English. The goal here was primarily to see to what extent expressive vocabulary is shared (in Siwu, it is to a great extent) and whether I had got my preliminary notes on their semantics right. In other sessions, I had one or more participants enact and paraphrase ideophones I collected, very much as you say, as 'some kind of strange person interested in these funny words'. Given the right type of guide (and the right type of atmosphere!), that method was really successful, with speakers gesturing, sketching situations, and using other ideophones and verbal paraphrases to clarify ideophones. Apart from planned sessions, I also captured ideophones in the wild in spontaneous conversations — a difficult but rewarding task. Dear Prof. Diffloth,

Thank you for your helpful comments. In fact this was just one of many different types of sessions I did, and it was selected here not so much for its ideophonic content but rather because of the lessons for fieldwork drawn from it. It was a list of ideophones, though, not mixed with ordinary vocabulary (the egg only comes in because it is an example of the ideophone sɔdzɔlɔɔ). We went through the list and discussed the words in English. The goal here was primarily to see to what extent expressive vocabulary is shared (in Siwu, it is to a great extent) and whether I had got my preliminary notes on their semantics right.

In other sessions, I had one or more participants enact and paraphrase ideophones I collected, very much as you say, as ‘some kind of strange person interested in these funny words’. Given the right type of guide (and the right type of atmosphere!), that method was really successful, with speakers gesturing, sketching situations, and using other ideophones and verbal paraphrases to clarify ideophones.

Apart from planned sessions, I also captured ideophones in the wild in spontaneous conversations — a difficult but rewarding task.

]]> By: Gerard Diffloth http://ideophone.org/response-strategies-in-fieldwork/comment-page-1/#comment-236 Gerard Diffloth Thu, 03 Apr 2008 09:24:36 +0000 http://ideophone.org/response-strategies-in-fieldwork/#comment-236 wonderful stuff; keep recording these sessions and filming peoples' reactions to your questions, if you can. One problem, it seems to me, is that you are asking for the meaning of these (ideophonic?) words in what appears to be a list of ordinary vocabulary. In that context, people will laugh or shrug their shoulders, or evade the question, because you are making a huge leap in "speaking moods", they are getting along with your prosaic vocabulary, and suddenly you spring up a surprise, an ideophone, so they laugh and cannot find a good prosaic translation. A better way would be to make it clear that you are some kind of strange person, only interested in these funny ideophonic "words", and that you are not asking for a translation, just any kind of reaction they might have to YOUR saying this (out of context, obviously). Even that approach may not work. In Southeast Asia, some of my best guides finally tell me (after months of mental discomfort with straightforward questioning) is: just wait till the word "happens" in a spontaneous, gusty exchange, then I will say something about it (note: ABOUT it, not a spelling out of the "meaning"). Wishing you the best of luck, really. wonderful stuff; keep recording these sessions and filming peoples’ reactions to your questions, if you can.
One problem, it seems to me, is that you are asking for the meaning of these (ideophonic?) words in what appears to be a list of ordinary vocabulary. In that context, people will laugh or shrug their shoulders, or evade the question, because you are making a huge leap in “speaking moods”, they are getting along with your prosaic vocabulary, and suddenly you spring up a surprise, an ideophone, so they laugh and cannot find a good prosaic translation.
A better way would be to make it clear that you are some kind of strange person, only interested in these funny ideophonic “words”, and that you are not asking for a translation, just any kind of reaction they might have to YOUR saying this (out of context, obviously).
Even that approach may not work.
In Southeast Asia, some of my best guides finally tell me (after months of mental discomfort with straightforward questioning) is: just wait till the word “happens” in a spontaneous, gusty exchange, then I will say something about it (note: ABOUT it, not a spelling out of the “meaning”).
Wishing you the best of luck, really.

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