Samarin reading

Question 1

Need for informants

Answer 1

To get body of data
To check data for accuracy
Comparing written vs. informant texts

Question 2

Selecting an informant

Answer 2

Have enough time
Good speaker of language
Be careful of recommendations/promising payment

Question 3

Good qualities of an informant

Answer 3

Talkative about own culture
Intelligent, good memory, alert
Patient, honest, dependable, cheerful
Language: good diction, precise articulation, talkative, able to be analytical

Question 4

Four steps for preparation

Answer 4

Analyze obtained data
Select targets for investigation
Plan how to elicit forms
Enlighten the informant

Question 5

Suggestion for preparation

Answer 5

Come prepared with a variety of material (in case certain expressions are unusable)

Question 6

Suggestions for transcription

Answer 6

Observe informant’s face
Write down translation and meaning/use of sentence
Pay attention to informant’s feelings
Include variations, watch out for general vs. specific terms

Question 7

Suggestions for eliciting

Answer 7

Elicit words, then phrases, before complex sentences
Try to avoid asking the informant to speak slowly

Question 8

Why should one collate and analyze each day?

Answer 8

Learn what material you still need
Become familiar with your material
Observe how your transcription varies

Question 9

Using an interpreter

Answer 9

Formulate statements in the clearest and most concise way
Put yourself between the informant and the interpreter

Question 10

Possible sources of error

Answer 10

Informant may misunderstand a request
Informant may give an illegitimate form
Informant may accommodate investigator’s ignorance
Dismissing forms that “don’t normally occur”
Confusion about forms that are the same word but different meaning in context
Expectation error