141Fig. 5.1 Some common geological and hydrological features named in Solega. ( a ) arre , a rock
platform , often used for washing or drying clothes, drying grain, sharpening machetes, etc. ( b )
ko:sa:ru , rocky terrain that is hard to navigate, ( c ) aṇṇi , boggy ground that serves as a perennial
source of water, ( d ) ba:vi , a well, ( e ) guṇḍi , a temporary water hole, ( f ) soṇe , a cavity in an arre
that sometimes holds rainwater
questions about various forest and landscape types. I mentioned the importance
of contextualising empirical language data in Sect. 1.3 , and in this respect, it is
important to remember that the information presented in the following tran-
scripts probably represents features of these forest and landscape types that
would normally only be mentioned explicitly when addressing a naïve out-
group member. To continue Linde and Labov’s theme, a New Yorker might
describe the layout of rooms in his new apartment to a friend only if that friend
had never before been a guest there. A frequent visitor to the apartment who
posed the question “ How’s the apartment? ” might get a very different answer—
s/he might be told that the apartment was a mess because of the owner’s young
5.1 Introduction