Argument Asymmetries in Comparative Bantu Syntax

比较班图语法中的参数不对称

• 批准号: 8919880
• 负责人: Joan Bresnan
• 金额: $ 24.9万
• 依托单位: Stanford University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 1990
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1990-02-01 至 1993-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=8919880&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Argument; Asymmetries; Comparative; Bantu; Syntax

ABSTRACT This project is a comparative study of the ways in which the syntax of subjects and objects interacts with semantic roles and discourse functions in several Bantu languages. The objective is to test and further develop the theory that asymmetries in the syntactic behavior of verbal arguments universally arise from underlying semantic and pragmatic hierarchies which are formally associated with underspecified syntactic functions, following a line of research initiated in Bresnan and Kanerva (1989). This theory combines aspects of both the functionalist and the formalist linguistic traditions in explaining argument asymmetries in Bantu and other languages. If it is correct, the theory has significant consequences for understanding the relations of discourse, syntax, and morphology and implies that the sharp division of labor that current linguistic practice continues to impose between "sentence grammar" and "discourse grammar" has led to uninsightful or incomplete accounts of important linguistic phenomena. In research over three years the project team will systematically analyze subject and object properties in eight Bantu languages that vary in the extent of asymmetry among verbal arguments. The phenomena analyzed will include locative inversion, unaccusativity, and presentational focus; interactions of argument-adding and argument-suppressing processes; agreement, word order, and extractions; and topic and focus marking, including phonological marking.

摘要 这个项目是一个比较研究的方式， 主语和宾语的语法与语义角色相互作用， 几种班图语的话语功能。 目标是 为了测试和进一步发展理论， 动词论元的句法行为普遍产生于 语义和语用层次， 与未充分指定的句法功能相关， Bresnan和Kanerva（1989年）发起的研究路线。 这 理论结合了功能主义和 形式主义语言学传统在解释论证中的作用 班图语和其他语言中的不对称。 如果正确， 理论对于理解 语篇、句法和词法的关系，并暗示， 当前语言实践中劳动力的急剧分工 在“句子语法”和“语篇”之间继续强加 语法”导致了对 重要的语言现象。 在三年的研究中，项目团队将 系统地分析了八种语言的主客体属性 班图语中的动词之间的不对称程度各不相同 争论 分析的现象将包括方位格 倒置、非对称性和表征焦点;相互作用 添加和抑制参数的过程;一致性， 词序和摘录;以及主题和焦点标记， 包括语音标记。