Grammars of Four Chadic Languages

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

9514401 FRAJZYNGIER The aim of the project is to complete reference grammars of several undescribed Chadic languages spoken in the Extreme North province of Cameroon and in Chad, some of which are endangered with extinction. The specific goals of the project are: (1) A grammar and dictionary of Mina; (2) A grammar and dictionary of Gidar; (3) A syntax of Lele; and (4) A syntax of East Dangla. The study is also theoretical in that it will address the interrelationships between word order, coding on the verb, object incorporation, and coding through adpositions, all of which are deployed by languages under study. A native speaker of East Dangla, a person with some linguistic training, will be brought from Chad to participate in the project. The Chadic branch is the largest family within the Afroasiatic phylum, which includes such well studied languages as Egyptian and Semitic. Chadic languages are spoken in Nigeria, Northern Cameroon, Chad, and Niger. Many of these languages are also endangered. They are spoken by a small number of people in a region undergoing rapid urbanization with Hausa, Arabic, and Fula as vehicular languages of the area. The languages chosen for description belong to Central and Eastern branches of Chadic. They differ in very important respects in their syntax, morphology, and phonology. The proposed descriptions will fill important gaps in our knowledge of the Chadic language family.