Linguistic Fieldwork of Northwestern North American Natives

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1. The three-year fieldwork project on the study of the native languages of the northwestern part of North America (Eskimo and Indian) was carried out from 1992 to 1994 by four Japanese linguists (Miyaoka, Oshima, Hayatsu, and Minoura) with collaboration of two American participants (Bright and Leer) and with assistance from six graduate students (Watanabe, Hori, Sasama, Miyaoka [Akihiro], Nakayama, and Ichihashi). The fieldwork was conducted about two summer months each year in the respective village or town.2. Of the languages investigated in the fieldwork, the Eskimo research is advanced enough for Miyaoka to start working on a definitive grammar of the language. For the other languages, each researcher did fieldwork on general or specific problems in the phonology, morphology or syntax of the respective language, depending upon the progress of the work done by the preceding year.3. In addition to the already published results by the research assistants which have attracted due attention from overseas specialists, it is a valuable fruit of the project that they have now grown up as young researchers fully capable of doing their own research. This is a wide welcome among those people domestic and international who are greatly concerned about the urgency of research on endangered languages.4. Dr.Bright and Dr.Leer were invited to Kyoto University respectively in November and in January for discussing the results and problems every one obtained in the fieldwork and the future plan of publishing the work accomplished in this project.