DOCTORAL DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Aspects of Northern Paiute Grammar

nsf支持的研究将是关于北派尤特语（努米克语，乌托-阿兹特克语）的语法。论文《北方派语语法的各个方面》将探索构词过程、语法和围绕指涉跟踪和话题性的话语相关主题，并将包括分析文本的主体。论文选题是为了完成两个相互关联的目标：1)提出北派尤特语法的主要方面的全面描述和2)提供信息的语言学界的理论和比较目的，其中很少有曾经发表过的语言。该项目包括文本收集和分析，作为探索北派尤特语法各个方面的基础。各种体裁的文本——传统的、民族历史的、自传体的叙述，以及日常经历和对话的叙述——将被记录、分析并输入计算机数据库；这将确保在当前和未来的研究中有多种语法形式和风格，并为社区提供语言保存的文件。伯恩斯·派尤特社区的成员将以顾问的身份协助这个项目，并通过培训，在转录和翻译过程中提供帮助。这将有助于确保部落成员能够继续参与记录和保护工作。除了使用录音带记录文字外，还将进行录像。从文本分析的角度来看，视频提供了音频无法提供的洞察文本的方式——最明显的是包含手势内容。从社区的角度来看，视频通常更容易获得，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群体设计的：1)语言学科学界，通过提供关于一种鲜有文献记载的濒危人类语言的重要数据；2)北派尤特社区，他们希望获得更多关于他们的语言遗产的信息。

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.