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About
THE BAREFOOT LINGUIST ... | |
So who is behind The Barefoot Linguist?
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The Barefoot Linguist outside cyberspace is Dr Knut J. Olawsky, a German citizen residing in Australia. As part of his work as a linguist dealing with endangered languages he has been recognised as an authority in the documentation and preservation of languages under threat of extinction. He has received an M.A. and a Ph.D. in Linguistics from the University of Duesseldorf (Germany), and was awarded a number of postdoctoral fellowships at Berkeley (University of California) and La Trobe University (Melbourne). The Barefoot Linguist is certified for teaching German as a foreign language and as a translator into German. He has been living in Australia since the year 2000 and was granted residency through a Distinguished Talent Visa on the grounds of his accomplishments in the field of linguistics. At present The Barefoot Linguist works with the elders of Mirima Council to help the Miriwoong and Gajirrabeng people preserve their precious languages and pass them on to coming generations.
For more details on Dr Olawsky's academic work please visit the following websites:
Please note that these are not updated regularly. |
The Vision
The world has between 6,000 and 7,000 distinct languages and we usually struggle to even understand those in our neighbourhood if we haven’t grown up using them; that’s reason enough to study language and languages in detail. Unfortunately their number is in steep decline as languages become extinct at a rapid pace. Languages disappear as the larger ones gain more and more influence. The Barefoot Linguist is committed to the preservation of endangered languages. He has studied and described the Dagbani language spoken in Ghana (West Africa) and the Urarina language from Peru. Since 2005, The Barefoot Linguist has been working with the Miriwoong people in the remote Kimberley region of Australia.
Now back to “The Barefoot Linguist” – What is this?
In a nutshell: there are different ways to approach language and languages. Some people study them from behind the desk, others run experiments with it; The Barefoot Linguist tries to approach language from a simple, practical side. No formulas, no fancy theories – just “barefoot”!
The Barefoot Linguist engages in "basic" linguistics, preferably in areas where he can keep his shoes off.
By the way: for THE BAREFOOT LINGUIST, wearing shoes only makes sense when they have a purpose. In some situations they are useful such as walking on unknown or difficult grounds. Compare this to the study of language: some general knowledge on how languages work will be useful but you don’t have to regard your tools more important than the goal. – Incidentally in real life, The Barefoot Linguist hardly ever wears shoes – as long as he’s not walking on glass ...
Some more thoughts about language:
- We all use language “automatically”; similar to walking, eating, or swimming – we just talk.
- Yet, we find it hard to understand how language operates.
- The typical job of a linguist is to find out more about the above, but there are many ways to study language and its structure.
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