DOCTORAL DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Aspects of Northern Paiute Grammar

NSF支持的研究将是关于NorthernPaiute（Numic，Uto-Aztecan）的语法。 这篇论文，北方派尤特语法方面，将是一个词的形成过程，句法，和话语相关的主题周围的参考跟踪和话题性的探索，并将包括一个分析文本的主体。 本论文的选题是为了实现两个相互关联的目标：1）对北方派尤特语语法的主要方面进行全面的阐述; 2）为语言学界提供有关这一语言的理论和比较研究方面的信息，而这一语言的相关研究成果很少。 各种类型的文本--传统的、民族历史的、自传体的叙述以及日常经历的叙述和语言中的对话--将被记录、分析并输入计算机数据库;这将确保在本研究和未来的研究中有各种各样的语法形式和风格，并为社区提供语言的文献资料以供保存。 伯恩斯派尤特人社区的成员将在这个项目中提供协助，既作为顾问，又通过培训，参与转录和翻译过程。 这将有助于确保部落成员能够继续参与记录和保存工作。除了使用录音带记录文本外，还将进行录像。 从文本分析的角度来看，视频以音频无法提供的方式提供了对文本的洞察--最明显的是包括手势内容。 从社区的角度来看，视频往往更容易获得，特别是对年轻一代来说，并且可以更容易地在语言教学中使用。 这个项目是专门为两个社区设计的：1）语言学的科学社区，通过提供关于少量记录和濒危人类语言的重要数据，以及2）希望获得更多关于其遗产语言的信息的北部派尤特社区。

The NSF-supported research will be on the grammar of NorthernPaiute (Numic, Uto-Aztecan). The dissertation, Aspects of Northern PaiuteGrammar, will be an exploration of word-formation processes, syntax, anddiscourse-related topics surrounding referent-tracking and topicality andwill include a body of analyzed texts. The dissertation topic was chosento accomplish two interconnected aims: 1) present a thorough descriptionof the major aspects of Northern Paiute grammar and 2) provide thelinguistics community with information for theoretical and comparativepurposes on a language about which very little has ever been published.The project includes text collection and analysis as the basis forexploring various aspects of Northern Paiute grammar. Texts of variousgenres -- traditional, ethno-historical, and autobiographical narrative aswell as the recounting of daily experiences and conversation in thelanguage -- will be recorded, analyzed, and entered into a computerdatabase; this will ensure a variety of grammatical forms and styles incontext for this and future studies as well as provide the community withdocumentation of the language for the purpose of preservation. Members ofthe Burns Paiute community will assist in this project both in the role ofconsultants and, through training, in the process of transcription andtranslation. This will help to ensure that tribal members will be able tocontinue their involvement in documentation and preservation efforts.Besides using audio tape to record texts, video recordings willalso be made. From the point of view of text analysis, video providesinsight into the text in ways that audio cannot--most notably by includinggestural content. From the perspective of the community, video is oftenmore accessible, particularly to younger generations, and can be moreeasily utilized in language teaching situations. This project isspecifically designed to benefit two communities: 1) the scientificcommunity in linguistics, by providing important data on alittle-documented and endangered human language, and 2) the NorthernPaiute communities who wish to have more informationon their language of heritage.