Hablar, anotar, comprender, explicar: Reflexiones sobre el papel de la lingüística en la etnografía

RODRIGO M. MONTANI

Estudios lingüísticos y sociolingüísticos de lenguas sudamericanas

Universidad Nacional de La Pampa

Lugar: Santa Rosa de La Pampa ; Año: 2007; p. 125 - 144

Language and the discipline that studies it –Linguistics- are involved at different moments in the ethnographic work. A background of linguistic knowledge is necessary not only to speak with our informants and register their words but also to comprehend, explain -or both- the social phenomena which we are confronted with. However, as anthropologists, we are not always willing to recognise the real relevance of the relationship between Linguistics and Ethnography, and actually to practice it. The goal of this work is to argue about the relation of ethnographic research –in its technical, methodological and theoretical dimensions- with Linguistics. The ethnographic works written about Wichi people (matako-maka linguistic family) and my own ethnographic experiences with them, will be taken as case of study. Finally, some considerations on how ethnographers can continue a productive dialogue with linguists will be presented. Key words: Anthropology, Ethnography, Linguistics, Wichi people, American Great Chaco