Mountain Voices

nyraghu

Mountain Voices (http://www.mountainvoices.org/india.asp) contains transcripts of interviews with several villagers in Garhwal and Kinnaur. In fact, http://www.mountainvoices.org/ contains interviews of people in mountainous regions of China, Nepal, Pakistan, Peru, and a few other countries.

The entire programme is an activity of the Panos Institute, London, and the interviewers are all local residents. The project seeks to voice the views of villagers in mountainous areas, who are the people most affected by developmental activity in those regions. People who visit the mountains regularly may be interested in these oral testimonies.

A selection of the interviews from India is available in PDF at http://www.panos.org.uk/images/books...ices_india.pdf
To see the full transcripts of the interviews, one has to register at the site.

On a lighter note, here is an interesting take on conflict resolution from Champal Singh, age 90, resident of a village near Harsil, in an interview conducted in December, 1996:

Q. How were the disputes solved, earlier?

A. If people fought at night, after drinking chang (homemade wine), they would gather together again in the morning and start drinking again to establish a friendly atmosphere. Then they would strike a compromise.

Raghu.

BabeInTheWoods

Hi Nyraghu. Thank you for that. I am doing a BA in Linguistics and this is a wonderful resource for my studies. Also, I have visited Bharmour in Chamba and Chitkul in the Baspa Valley, so it's very interesting to learn more about the people of these areas. Many thanks.

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nyraghu

Hello Nick,

While you are at it, it may be better to put the first paragraph of posting #2 ("The entire ... oral testimonies.") also in the quote box, because it too was cited from the OP.

Thanks and regards,
Raghu.
Mod note: Done! Sloppy moderating, eh? But life is short

nyraghu

The oral testimonies are indeed interesting. I am glad you find them useful.

I don't know anything of linguistics, but just out of curiosity, how are these interviews useful in your work?

Raghu.

BabeInTheWoods

When we learn our first language, we absorb our cultural surroundings by default. We can't pick up language without being socialised as well (we learn from our parents, siblings, others in our village, etc). So language, socialisation and culture go very much hand in hand. I have to observe and write about this combination in my studies.

GauhatiBoy

I am fascinated by how words translate from one language to another, and how they can also mean very different things. Even in the same language.

For example, How the German word Kaugummi means chewing gum, but doesn't refer to a cow. Or how the Hindi word for banana means something totally different in Assam Kela is dirty language. Bananas are properly called Kol.

BabeInTheWoods

I have the same fascination also, GauhatiBoy. English is such an illogical language, and every day when I'm tutoring my students, we find yet another word that demonstrates this. Yesterday's word was 'parenthesis'. It describes brackets (or a phrase marked off by brackets), and has nothing to do with parents nor does it refer to a thesis.

I often look at words - of any language, including Hindi - and try to guess what they mean from what they're made up of. Sometimes I'm spot on and sometimes I'm way off. It's good fun though. Keeps me amused, anyway.

GauhatiBoy

Every language is illogical in some ways, and that's what makes things fun.

Aotearoa is a pretty well defined word because it has not entered into any other language's dictionary yet.

BabeInTheWoods

That's true. Maori is a delightful language to read because you pronounce it exactly as it's written. I try to apply this when attempting to learn a new Hindi word. Sometimes it works, sometimes not. Another interesting thing about Maori is that every word of it ends in a vowel.

You also roll your rrr's when speaking Maori, which has helped me a lot when pronouncing Hindi. Maybe my Scottish ancestry helps there too.

GauhatiBoy

I have Scot blood too

Back to Lady Godiva, not kidding

BabeInTheWoods

Wow! Pretty cool to know your ancestry so well. I wish I knew more about mine, but everyone on that side of my family has unfortunately passed away, so my siblings and I are all that remain, and we only know a little about our ancestors. My sons are in Scotland now though, which is wonderful. They're the first ones in about 5 generations to set foot on Scottish soil.

Here in Aotearoa (New Zealand) many of us are of mixed blood. For a while there, the Maori were starting to lose grip on their culture and history (thanks to good ole colonial rule). Fortunately, there's been an uprise of interest in it again and our young ones are growing up with a fair amount of Maori input into their lives, and we have bilingual signs, a Maori channel on TV, Maori-based preschools, and various courses available to anyone who's interested in gaining knowledge of Maori language and culture. Great to see.

The transcripts available on Mountain Voices are great. Not only is it interesting for the likes of me, but also it means that some of the old ways are being recorded for the next generations in those areas. This is valuable stuff!

Dilliwala

That's what happens when u take Latin, Greek, throw in a bit of French, a bit of German, add salt to taste, and call it a language! They shud have stuck with Old English.

I've actually passed thru some of those villages in the Uttaranchal list which are not on the beaten path.