What is fieldwork in linguistics : a brief account of personal experience and thoughts

Abstract

Though I myself have not done much field research, it has taken me to places like Mexico, Kyrgyzstan, Dayaoshan, Yunnan and Sichuan. This essay will fi rst briefl y recount some interesting stories of my fi eldtrips there. Then based on these experiences, I will provide some linguistic observations on tone language and language contact. I will also try to discuss the newly excavated Sanxingdui culture in southwest China from a broader perspective of human migration, ethnic amalgamation and cultural interaction. Finally, I hope that future linguistic research will soon reveal something about the linguistic profi le in the ancient Bashu culture. 我自己的田野调查经验虽不多，足迹却涵盖了墨西哥、吉尔吉斯斯坦、中国广西大瑶山以及云南、四川等 地。本文略述我到这些地方考察的趣事，再从这些经验出发，提供关于我对声调语言和语言接触的观察，并从宏观 的人类迁徙、人种融合及文化交流的角度，论及中国西南方新发掘的三星堆文化，最后寄语未来的语言学研究能早 日揭示出有关古代巴蜀文化的语言样貌。