Field Work on Oirat language in Xinjiang province (China)

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Field Work on Oirat language in Xinjiang province
(China)
Summer, 2005
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• Linguistics field work issues (20 mins)
• a. Introduction to the project
• b. Problems and suggestions
• c. Photos and video materials
• Level of endangerment of Oirat language in
  Xinjiang (10 mins)
• Samples of comparative analyses of the data (20
  - 25 mins)
• a. /-ke?/-xe?/ alternation in Xinjiang Oirat
• b. Erosion of vowel harmony in Xinjiang Oirat
• Past tense markers /-la/-l?/,
  /-d?e/-t?e/, and /-va/-v?/
• video (if time permits)

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Field Trip Grant Foundation for Endangered
Languages at School of Oriental and African
Studies (SOAS), London, UK. Title of the
ProjectDevelopment of teaching materials for
Kalmyk language classes Comparative
studies of Kalmyk and Oirat

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Duration of the project 1 year (June 2005 June
2006) Stage 1 Field work on Oirat language in
Xinjiang province (China) June
2005 - August 2005 Stage 2 Field work on Kalmyk
dialect in Kalmyk Republic (Russia)
March 2006 June 2006
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Xoug S?r
Bain Bul?g
Urumqi
X?d? ?n
Korla
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• Collected material
• Audio recordings (mostly done directly in
  Praat )
• Transcriptions in IPA
• Phonology 200 word Swadesh list (2),
  loan words (1), items on vowel harmony (3)
• Intonation 71 read stories (7), 2 the
  same read stories (6), questions (3), ceremonial
  texts (4)
• D?angr (2),
  dialogues, free conversations.
• Syntax picture descriptions, questions,
  self-introductions
• Notes
• verbal forms (morphemes), relative
  clauses, passive voice
• Photos and video recordings
• Cultural exchange songs, customs
  (wedding, ceremonial narratives), dances,
  interviews of Oirat
• 
  shepherds, teachers, Mongolian school
  authorities everyday life activities
• (cooking
  national dishes, etc.)

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• Before the trip
• Grant application - plan in advance!
• Suggestions
• Contact the language community (if possible)
• Check the weather conditions (it can snow in
  summer)
• Check location (Oirats migrate every season)
• Learn about the situation with the power
  supplies
• Equipment and software (Olympus DS 2200, Edirol
  R1, Praat)
• Try your recording equipment and software
  before the trip
• (my Shoebox problem, voltage converter)
• Medication
• Budget (grant application)
• Dont forget to include all the costly items
  
• a. Solar battery ICP Solar 04340 PowerFlex
  40 Solar Panel (around 550)
• b. International warranty for the laptop
  (up to 500)

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• In
  the field
• Language consultants
• Dialects (distribution, geography, and
  population)
• L1 or L2 (multi-lingualism)
• Power of the written form (xar keln vs.
  prescriptive grammar)
• language teachers vs. ranchers
• Payment (no monetary rewards to elderly
  people)
• Work place
• Immersion into the language vs.
  independence
• Customs
• Being a guest (What to bring?)
• Who sits where? (age discrimination)
• Local time (punctuality 10pm appointments)

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• Data analysis
• Analyze data while in the field
• Learn the language (Oirat yes/no, Yrymch(d))
• Collect data for a specific reason
• Linguistic literature (digitized)
• Contact your colleagues for advise (if
  possible)
• 2 -3 months might be too short for a broad
  documentation

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• Level of Endangerment of Oirat language
• Ethnolinguistic situation in Xinjiang
• Multilingualism among Oirats
• (based on 2.5 month experience)
• Recent language policy
• Self-esteem
• Statistics on Mongolian schools
• Perspectives for the future

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• Ethnolinguistic situation
  in Xinjiang
• Great Diversity
• 47 ethnic groups, 13 of which have lived
  in Xinjiang for many generations
• Surrounded by eight countries Mongolia,
  Russia, Kazakhstan, Kirghizstan,
• Tadzhikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and
  India.
• Population in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous
  Province
• Uyghur nationality - more than 6 million
  ( 45 of the entire population)
• Han nationality (Mandarin Chinese) - 5
  million
• Kazax - 900,000
• Hui nationality - 600,000
• Mongol nationality (Oirat) - 170,000
• Kirgiz nationality - 120,000
• Xibe nationality - 30,000
• Mandarin Chinese is used by the
  representatives of all the nationalities

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Multilingualism among
Oirats (based on 2.5
month experience)


0-20
Chinese (L1) gtgt Oirat (L2)

20-40
Chinese/Oirat Oirat/Chinese gtgt UighurgtgtKazax
Fully
bi/multilingual
40-70 Oirat/Chinese
gtgt Chinese/Oirat gtgt Uighur gtgt Kazax
bi/multilingual with Oirat as L1




70
Oirat gtgt Chinese gtgt UighurgtgtKazax
Monolingual Oirats
Lets watch
video!
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• Recent language
  policies
• a. 1982
  reform (Hudum Bichig)
• b. Welcome to
  Chinese schools
• c.
  Unemployment among Oirat teachers
• Self-esteem
• a. Low level of
  education in Mongolian schools
• (200
  scores lower)
• b.
  Advantages of fluent Chinese
• 
  

Children of rancher spend only 4
months with their parents
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Statistics Beginning of 1990s
- 167 Mongolian schools By 2005 out of 167
schools 82 have been closed (137) 10 have
been reorganized (16-17) 8 have remained
(13-14) Note in reorganized schools the language
of instruction for all subjects is Chinese
Mongolian language is taught to Mongolian
children 2-4 hours per week. By 2002 in
Xinjiang Total number of students in Mongolian
schools is 17270 (10), including 7-11 years old
elementary school 10507 12-14 years old -
middle school - 4897 15-18 years old - high
school - 1876 Summer 2005 only two
monolingual Mongolian schools In my
estimation less than 2000 Oirat children study in
monolingual Mongolian schools
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Perspectives for the future

Bleak Less than 2 of the population study
Oirat in monolingual
Mongolian school
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Thank you for the help Ken Rehg, Laura Robinson,
Lisa Ebeling, Alexandr Vovin, Victoria
Anderson, Maria Faehndrich