Reference grammars for speakers of minority languages

Abstract

Most of the work done in grammaticography focuses on the writing of grammars for an audience of linguists, and more specifically, typologists. In this paper, we present a grammaticographic model designed mainly to take into account the needs of minority language speakers, because they play a central role in the preservation of their language. However, since in minority language situations it is not possible to generate as many grammars as there are different potential end users, we propose a multilevel grammar, based on our experience as grammarian of Innu, a First Nation language spoken in Quebec (Canada). In this type of grammatical description, the first (main) level is addressed to non-specialist users, the speakers of the language being described, whereas grammatical material aimed at other users (such as linguists) is presented in secondary levels and is limited to core information. Our grammaticographic model was initially conceived for paper (printed) grammars, but we believe that electronic publication offers interesting solutions for multilevel grammars, while paper (printed) grammatical descriptions have greater limitations.