ABSTRACT
The ideal way to study the language of a traditional community is in situ, living within the village, learning as much of the social customs of the people as possible. It is very important to understand something about the social contexts in which the language is used, for in many languages these will directly affect aspects of its structure. The only way these contexts can be learned and properly appreciated is by living in an environment where the language is used constantly, i.e. the village community. Further, it is very important, if the time available is sufficient, for the linguist actually to learn to speak the language. The best way to do this, of course, is to live in the village, where one is surrounded by the language in constant use. This is not to say that valuable work cannot be done without a speaking knowledge: many good descriptive studies have come
from the pen of linguists who could not fluently speak the language under description. None the less, there will be many aspects of the language which may only be properly understood or, indeed, discovered, if the linguist possesses a speaking knowledge.
