Chapter What can no longer be known : IN Book: Grammar of Loss

Abstract

This book explores how language and linguistic knowledge can be encountered through walks, shared meals, conversations, and daily life rather than being written about in the style and genre of western academic grammar. Through an innovative exploration of the multivocal forms of knowledge transmission about a disappearing language within a small, diverse community in Nigeria, the book reveals a revolutionary perspective on linguistic research by uncovering hidden dimensions of language through stories of both the living and the dead. The author presents valuable insights into how language knowledge persists and transforms in liminal spaces, including ruined sites. Readers will gain a fresh understanding of linguistic description that transcends traditional academic boundaries, revealing magical properties of language and meanings that conventional approaches might miss. In decidedly treading on liminal grounds, the author offers insights into what remains in terms of knowledge after loss. It will therefore be of strong interest to scholars and researchers in linguistics, particularly those focused on endangered languages and linguistic anthropology. It will also appeal to academics working in liminality studies and those interested in alternative approaches to language documentation. Chapters 3, 4 and 10 of this book are freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.