The Importance of Audio Documentation in Preserving Vernacular Language: Folk Poetry as a Model

Abstract

This research relies on studying the importance of oral audio documentation To show its development at its various levels: phonetic, morphological, grammatical and semantic, and from the vernacular language, folk poetry is specific. It rises from a linguistic perspective under the title: The Importance of  Audio Documentation in Preserving Vernacular Language: Folk Poetry as a Model. It deals with previous efforts to collect folk poetry with their related commentaries. It also tries to find an innovative way by which we can keep what has remained of folk poetry that was given almost no interest, studies or research as it is not uttered in Standard Arabic and is not appropriate for Standard Arabic spelling and, moreover, for reasons that were mistakenly thought to be religious.  The study reached a number of results most important among which are: Collecting folk poetry serves The Holy Qur’an and Islam and not the other way around. An audio recording of folk poetry is more important than its writing as it clarifies its linguistic and phonological features. Folk poetry, which represents a linguistic heritage, is that which was mentioned before the year 1410 AH. From a linguistic and lexicographical perspective, collecting folk poetry is more important than collecting modern eloquent poetry. Collecting folk poetry in its previous stages represents only a small segment of folk poetry production.  If we do not give interest to our folk poetry, no one else can do that role.  The idea of an audio collection of folk poetry through an encyclopedic work is the only way to realize this linguistic legacy. Finally, the research comes to an end with a number of recommendations most notable of which are:  Working on collecting and verifying previous manuscripts.  It is highly necessary to work strenuously on collecting what is available as a result of previous efforts in a phonetic form that shows its correct pronunciation  . It is very necessary to work on an encyclopedic institutional project to collect folk poetry orally.  Reviewing folk poetry nomenclature as it still needs much further research and study     Making good use of published poets and accurate narrators to get their linguistic poetic productions.