clay searching digging clay A usage-based grammar of Cuvok with focus on documenting the endangered social role of blacksmiths of the Tchouvok community

the video shows the smiths searching and digging the clay to be used. Cuvok is a Central Chadic language spoken in the Far North Region of Cameroon. Tchouvok traditional society pivots around blacksmiths, who play a number of other key social roles: doctor, metalworker, mortician, mind-reader, and midwife. With the introduction of Islam, Christianity and modernism, the knowledge possessed by the blacksmith is no longer transmitted to the younger generation. This documentation project is integrated into my PhD research, which aims at a usage-based grammatical description of Cuvok. Much of my corpus will be composed of video recordings. Ethnographic notes will complement my annotated texts.