The relevance of oral sources en linguistic historiography

Abstract

Regarding historiographical sources, it is known that, in principle, the documentary sources are of greater suitability for the unveiling and interpreting the facts, given its presumption of trustworthiness as a historical document. Nevertheless, nowadays the relevance of the so-called informal sources, such as private letters, diaries, family notes and many others of this nature, is increasing substancially, as well as the oral sources, whose importance as historical document must be reassessed. This text treats especially the oral sources in the field of Linguistic Historiography, as well as its use in contemporary research projects dedicated to the study and analysis of the linguistic knowledge building in Brazil.