Fieldwork documentary methodology

How will I proceed with documentary data collection? Preliminarily, as for phonology, I will refer to the analyses already available (see post on the basic info on Nara), in particular the most recent Banti and Savà (2021). Moreover, an article on the comparative phonology of three Nara dialects is on the way of publication by myself.

In order to get a grasp on the phonemes of Nara and its realisation(s), I will have a look with my consultants at didactic texts produced to promote the language. They are written in Nara standard orthography and produced by the Eritrean Ministry of Culture. I acknowledge Professor Banti to provide me some samples. 

Getting acquainted with phonology in this way, I will also start understanding on morphology and automatically get an idea of syntax. There are some basic descriptions of these available (see still the introductory post).

At a certain point, I will be ready to deal with nominal morphology, in particular plural formation, based nominal classes, and verbal morphology. 

It will be, then, time to record texts, the real documentation activity. I will ask the two consultants to produce oral narrations of any kind they will comfortable with. Working with two specialists will give me the chance to check and cross-check their production. This is also true in the phases of text transcription (both in IPA and in standard Nara), translation and grammatical glossing. It goes without saying that working on texts I will enrich my knowledge of syntax and pragmatics.

The aim is to collect, elaborate and analyse about one and a half hours of speech, producing a grammatical sketch, a glossary and cultural and sociolinguistic notes. 

Everything is clear and promising, also thanks to my experience in the field of language documentation.