To BOLDly Go Where No One Has Gone Before

Abstract

In this article, I report on a survey designed as the first step in testing claims made regarding the potential of Basic Oral Language Documentation (BOLD) for addressing the urgency of the documentation task. BOLD was developed in response to a number of language documentation challenges, its aim being to design a time-effective way to obtain a core data corpus, thereby allowing for more endangered languages to be documented faster. After providing background about BOLD and its claims, I report on its use in six field projects which had varying durations and goals. These preliminary results confirm BOLD’s overall soundness, while suggesting minor adjustments in design and protocols. I invite the language documentation community to participate in BOLD in three ways: (1) make BOLD corpora of undocumented languages a funding priority, (2) use it and require it of students, and (3) help refine BOLD best practices. Since the current rate of new documentations is not keeping pace with language loss, it is only by adopting this or a similar strategy that speech practices of communities around the world can be documented before it is too late.