LINGUIST List 6.1129

Sun Aug 20 1995

Calls: Field reports/Endangered lgs at LSA '96

Editor for this issue: T. Daniel Seely <dseelyemunix.emich.edu>

Directory

1. Tony Woodbury, Call: Field reports/Endangered Lgs. at LSA '96

[This is a reposted message from the Linguistic Society of America (LSA)'s
Committee on Endangered Languages and their Preservation. Please note that
the deadline for submission is **SEPTEMBER 1, 1995**. --Tony Woodbury]


 Call for Abstracts
 FIELD REPORTS/ENDANGERED LANGUAGES
 LSA Annual Meeting, San Diego, January 4-7, 1996

At last year's LSA Meeting in New Orleans, the Committee on Endangered
Languages and their Preservation presented a two-part organized session
titled 'Field Reports/Endangered Languages.'

Beginning this year, 'Field Reports/Endangered Languages' is listed on the
LSA 'Abstract Submittal Form' as one of the 'primary area[s] of
linguistics' addressed by regular submissions to the LSA Annual Meeting in
San Diego. If enough abstracts designating this category are accepted,
then 'Field Reports/Endangered Languages' may be the title of one or more
regular sessions at the meeting.

Papers in this category are expected to report on the results of recent
field work, especially (but not necessarily) on languages that are
endangered, and to focus on any of the major themes in the work of field
linguists. These include: (a) The scientific importance of specific field
results, including new phenomena or facts; (b) The nature of language
endangerment and shift, such as the sociolinguistics of endangered
languages communities, the distribution and speaker strength of languages
or dialects in a given area, or attitudes toward language death; (c) The
ways communities and linguists have responded to these conditions,
including language preservation or revitalization efforts; (d)
Methodological issues, such as dictionary making, natural text
representation, survey methods; and (e) Ethical issues.

Abstracts designating this category should indicate briefly the communities
and languages involved, the vitality of the language, the nature, goals,
and location of the field work, and major prior linguistic documentation
(if any).

Because the Society for the Study of the Indigenous Languages of the
Americas (SSILA) will meet jointly with the LSA in 1996, it is hoped that
Field Reports/Endangered languages session(s) this year will have a
complementary focus on languages of Africa, Eurasia, and Oceania, as well
as languages of predominantly non-Native communities in the Americas (e.g.,
sign languages, pidgins/creoles, and varieties of overseas languages).
Accordingly, those with reports on Native American languages are encouraged
to submit them to SSILA if at all possible.

The deadline for receipt of abstracts is *Sept. 1, 1995*. Please note that
 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
this date is a week and a half earlier than in previous years. Like all
submissions, these abstracts will be reviewed by the LSA Program Committee
in consultation with outside referees. Submission is open to any LSA
member. For further details see the _LSA Bulletin_, No. 146, December,
1994, pp. 61-66.

The Committee on Endangered Languages and their Preservation considers it
vitally important that this new category be supported by a strong
complement of abstract submissions from interested LSA members. This is
the only way for "Field Reports/Endangered Languages" to become an
established part of LSA programs in years to come. Please direct any
questions to Tony Woodbury (email: acwmail.utexas.edu; phone: (512)
471-1701 or (512) 472-5305.)

END OF MESSAGE