Doctoral Dissertation Research: Verbal Semantics and Morphosyntax in Tsafiki (Colorado)

目前的项目是博士论文研究的形态句法和语义动词系统的Tsafiki（科罗拉多）。 Tsafiki是Tsachila（Colorados）的母语，Tsachila是厄瓜多尔热带西部低地的土著少数民族（2，000人）。本论文的主题将完成两个目标：1）提出一个语言的主要语法系统之一的透彻描述;和2）探索语言学界的理论兴趣的主题。 Tsafiki是一种文献记载不足的语言，属于南美洲的一个很少描述的语言家族，Barbakoan-Paesan。详细描述动词系统的形态句法将大大有助于理解Tsafiki和了解这个语言家族。 Tsafiki在理论上很有意义，因为它有一个有趣的动词分类系统，包括主体和客体，也许最重要的是，一个非常复杂的证据（知识来源）系统。这个证据系统是语法的一个组成部分。语言的许多形态句法资源不仅用于编码信息的来源，而且用于编码信息的类型，以及信息福尔斯是否属于文化知识、一般知识或基于说话者自己的直接感知和内部状态的知识。证据系统与人称标记系统、时体系统和动词分类系统以一些有趣的方式相互作用。虽然证据系统在世界各地的一些语言中得到了证实，但它们似乎也是南美洲的一种地域现象。它们出现在克丘亚语、艾马拉语和亚马逊河流域的语言中。但是，很少有描述性或理论性的工作已经做了这样的系统。本论文将推进对此类系统的理论理解。 该项目还旨在使三个不同的社区受益：1）美国学术界; 2）厄瓜多尔学术界; 3）Tsachila社区本身。制作的所有材料的副本将提供给厄瓜多尔天主教大学和Tsachila社区。此外，这些材料将作为最终为社区制作双语材料、词典和教学材料的基础。

The current project is for doctoral dissertation research on the morphosyntactic and semantic verbal system of Tsafiki (Colorado). Tsafiki is the native language of the Tsachila (Colorados), an indigenous minority (2,000 speakers) of the tropical western lowlands of Ecuador. The dissertation topic will accomplish two goals: 1) present a thorough description of one of the major grammatical systems of the language; and 2) explore a topic of theoretical interest to the linguistic community. Tsafiki is an under-documented language which belongs to a little-described family of languages of South America, Barbakoan-Paesan. A detailed description of the morphosyntax of the verbal system will contribute greatly to both the understanding of Tsafiki and knowledge about this family of languages. Tsafiki is of theoretical interest in that it has an interesting system of verbal classification, incorporation of both subjects and objects and perhaps, most importantly, a very elaborate evidential (source of knowledge) system. This evidential system is an integral part of the grammar. Much of the morphosyntactic resources of the language are devoted to coding not only the source of information but also the type of information and whether the information falls into the category of cultural, general knowledge or knowledge based on the speaker's own immediate perceptions and internal states. The evidential system interacts in some interesting ways with the person-marking system, the tense-aspect system and the verbal classification system. While evidential systems are attested in a number of languages worldwide they also appear to be an areal phenomenon in South America. They appear in Quechua, Aymara and languages of the Amazonian basin. But very little descriptive or theoretical work has been done on such systems. This dissertation will advance the theoretical understanding of such systems. The project has also been designed to benefit thr ee different communities: 1) the academic community of the United States; 2) the academic community of Ecuador; and 3) the Tsachila community itself. Copies of all materials produced will be given to the Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Ecuador and to the Tsachila community. In addition, the materials will be used as a basis for eventually producing bilingual materials, a dictionary and pedagogical materials for the community.