Dissertation Research: A Study of Diverging Morphology: Native and Loan Verb Formation in Modern Maltese

论文研究：分歧形态研究：现代马耳他语中的母语动词和借用动词的构成

• 批准号: 0449757
• 负责人: Adam Ussishkin
• 金额: $ 1.2万
• 依托单位: University of Arizona
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2005
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2005-03-01 至 2006-02-28
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0449757&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Dissertation; Research; Study; Diverging; Morphology

Under the direction of Dr. Adam Ussishkin, Ms. Alina Twist will conduct research on verb formation processes in Maltese for her doctoral dissertation. Maltese is a dialect of Arabic that has been influenced extensively by contact with English and other Indo-European languages. Maltese speakers appear to make use of two separate systems of word formation. Non-linear word formation, as illustrated by Maltese kiser 'he broke' and kisser ' he smashed', is typical of Arabic dialects. In this type of system, segmental material is added or changed in the middle of the word to alter the meaning. Linear word formation, in which segmental material is added to the edges of words, also occurs in Maltese, which is not typically found in core word formation in other Arabic dialects. Ms. Twist's research project will collect psycholinguistic evidence about how speakers use each of these strategies. This evidence will be analyzed to determine how the two word formation systems interact. A masked priming experiment will ask Maltese speakers to judge whether or not test items are words of their language. The test items will include real verbs of both Semitic and English origin. Filler items will be nonsense verbs constructed to mirror the properties of the test items. Accuracy rates and reaction time will be recorded and reaction times of correct responses compared across speakers. An elicitation experiment will ask native speakers of Maltese to provide a verb form that corresponds to a given noun or adjective, as illustrated by the English pair destruction ~ destroy. The test items will be nouns and adjectives of Semitic and English origin. Responses will be broadly transcribed and analyzed for their similarity to the expected patterns.This research builds on past studies on word formation in languages that exhibit only one type of core word formation strategy, like English or Hebrew. In the past it has been difficult to compare research between these languages, because the writing systems of the two types of languages are so different. Non-linear languages like Hebrew and most dialects of Arabic are written without many vowels. Maltese, on the other hand, is written in Roman letters, including all vowels. This difference will allow direct comparison between this study and previous work in the field of word formation.

在Adam Ussishkin博士的指导下，Alina Twist女士将对马耳他的动词形成过程进行研究。 马耳他是阿拉伯语的方言，受到与英语和其他印欧语的接触广泛影响。 马耳他说话者似乎使用了两个单独的单词形成系统。 非线性单词形成，如马耳他·基瑟（Maltese Kiser）“他破产”和“他砸碎的接吻”所示，是阿拉伯语方言的典型代表。 在这种类型的系统中，在单词中间添加或更改了分段材料以改变含义。 线性单词形成，其中添加了分段材料的单词边缘，也发生在马耳他中，通常在其他阿拉伯语方言中核心单词形成通常没有发现。 Twist女士的研究项目将收集有关说话者如何使用这些策略的心理语言证据。 将分析此证据，以确定两个单词形成系统如何相互作用。 蒙面的启动实验将要求马耳他的演讲者判断测试项目是否是其语言的单词。 测试项目将包括闪族和英语起源的真实动词。 填充项将是构建的废话动词，以反映测试项目的属性。将记录准确性率和反应时间，并在跨扬声器之间进行正确响应的反应时间。 启发实验将要求马耳他的母语人士提供与给定名词或形容词相对应的动词形式，如英语对破坏〜销毁所示。 测试项目将是闪族和英语起源的名词和形容词。 响应将被广泛转录和分析与预期模式的相似性。这项研究基于对语言中的单词形成的过去研究，这些语言仅表现出一种类型的核心单词形成策略，例如英语或希伯来语。 过去，很难比较这些语言之间的研究，因为两种类型的语言的写作系统是如此不同。 希伯来语和大多数阿拉伯语方言等非线性语言都没有许多元音。 另一方面，马耳他是罗马字母，包括所有元音。 这种差异将允许本研究与单词形成领域的先前工作之间进行直接比较。