LINGUIST List 26.1299

Mon Mar 09 2015

Qs: How to Refer to Linguistic Data Source

Editor for this issue: Anna White <awhitelinguistlist.org>


Date: 06-Mar-2015
From: Victoria Sferlazza <viclazzayahoo.com>
Subject: How to Refer to Linguistic Data Source
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I am currently an independent scholar researching the lesser-known languages of Haitian-Creole, Sicilian and Yiddish. I might want to collect some samples of oral language from native speakers.
Linguists used to refer to people, often ordinary speakers, from whom linguistic data was obtained as ''informants.'' I remember reading the use of this term was replaced by another, deemed more sociologically correct. Can you tell me the technical term used nowadays to refer to people who provide oral linguistic data to researchers?


Linguistic Field(s): Sociolinguistics

Page Updated: 09-Mar-2015