Linguistic and music ethnography of Kalahari Khoe1)
NAKAGAWA Hirosi
This paper presents a research proposal on the international joint-project titled Language
and Music Ethnography of Kalahari Khoe. It describes the context of the project, the main
research topics to be pursued, the methodology, the organization of the project team, and
other relevant issues. The project aims at the first systematic integrated investigation of
language and ethnomusic documentations of the Kalahari Khoe by paying special attention to
the interplay between linguistic and musical structures. It carries out a linguistic and
musicological documentation by targeting the language communities of the Western-Okwa
group, the Ghanzi-Hanahai group, and the Tshwa group. This documentation will make an
unprecedented empirical contribution to the Kalahari Khoe ethnography. Theoretical issues,
such as the language-music interaction, cross-cultural comparison of music, and functions of
storytelling and music in hunter-gatherer societies, will also be explored in the project. In
addition, this research will make a scientific contribution to the understanding of the value of
Kalahari Khoe linguistic and music resources as Botswana’s cultural heritage.