Doctoral Dissertation Research: The family of Complex Predicates in Q'anjob'al (Maya); their Syntax and Semantics

Q‘anjob’al(玛雅人)中的复杂谓词家族；它们的句法和语义这个项目专注于语言领域的研究、语言文档和复杂谓词的分析(例如，我生吃肉，我吃完苹果，我坐着来，我坐着旅行，等等)。关于危地马拉Huehuetenango的Santa Eulalia所说的Q‘anjob’al(玛雅)方言。它将导致对复杂谓词形成和解释的句法、意义和词汇限制的描述和分析，这在Q‘anjo’al或其他玛雅语言中尚不存在。本文将分析五种类型的复合谓词：补语从句、状语从句(即目的、方式等)、第二谓词(动结式和描述式)、助动词(即启动结构、使役结构等)以及所谓的“指向”。我们将探讨每种复杂谓词类型与词汇、句法、语义和语用约束的关系，以及这些约束如何协同工作以相互区分复杂谓词。该项目还将制作25个小时的收集和数字化文本，其中6个小时将经过注释并翻译成英文和西班牙文。文本收集将包括最濒危的语言流派的录音，如仪式演讲、宗教演讲、传统医学、玉米种植、祈祷等，这些只有最年长的一代演讲者才知道。该方法包括从收集的文本中分析复杂的谓词，并对这些谓词进行操纵以分离起作用的因素。语篇分析将辅以形式和意义方面的启发。文本收集涉及定位社区专家(如助产士、传统医学从业者、讲故事的人等)、记录、数字化、元数据创建、转录和注释。文本集将以两种格式编写：原版和注释版，以供语言分析。文本注解将涉及从文本创建词条数据库。文本和录音将保存在德克萨斯大学拉丁美洲土著语言档案馆。还将向社区提供副本，以支持与语言有关的工作。该项目将通过向Q‘anjobal社区和公众提供最濒危的语言体裁的文本集，为Q’anjob‘al的文件工作做出贡献。它还将通过分析Q‘anjob’al来推进对玛雅语言的句法和语义的分析。尽管玛雅语言的句法在以前的研究中受到了极大的关注，但对复杂谓词的统一分析并不存在。第三，它对普通语言学具有智力上的价值，因为它将提供对复杂谓词的详细描述和分析，重点放在不同的分析层次上。这一案例研究了一种语言中的几个复杂谓词，将有助于我们对复杂谓词的总体理解。第四，文本收集将有助于语言学、计算和人类学分析以及相关领域的材料。它还将支持Q‘anjobal社区的语言保存，因为这些文本可能被用于其他项目(例如，广播节目、学校材料等)。总的来说，它更广泛的影响是将理论语言学、描述性语言学和文献语言学结合在一起。此外，该项目属于语言记录、语言振兴和培训母语人士的更广泛运动范围内，因为它将根据社区与语言有关的需求，培训两名讲Q‘anjob’al语的母语人士。

The family of Complex Predicates in Q'anjob'al (Maya); their Syntax and SemanticsThis project focuses on linguistic field research, language documentation and analysis of complex predicates (i.e. I ate the meat raw, I ate up the apple, I came seated, I traveled sitting, etc.) on the dialect of Q'anjob'al (Mayan) spoken in Santa Eulalia, Huehuetenango, Guatemala. It will result in a description and analysis of the syntax, meaning and lexical constraints on the formation and interpretation of complex predicates, which is not yet available for Q'anjob'al or other Mayan languages. Five types of complex predicates will be analyzed: complement clauses, adverbial clauses (i.e. purpose, manner, etc.), secondary predicates (resultative and depictive), auxiliary constructions (i.e. inchoative, causative, etc.), as well as the so-called "directionals". Each complex predicate type will be explored in relation to lexical, syntactic, semantic, and pragmatic constraints and how these constraints work together to distinguish complex predicates from each other. The project will also produce 25 hours of collected and digitized texts, 6 hours of which will be glossed and translated into English and Spanish. The text collection will include recordings of the most endangered linguistic genres like ceremonial discourse, religious discourses, traditional medicine, corn planting, prayers, etc., which are only known by the oldest generation of speakers. The methodology involves the analysis of complex predicates from the collected texts and the manipulation of these to separate factors at play. Text analysis will be supplemented with elicitation focused on form and meaning. The text collection involves locating community specialists (such as midwives, traditional medicine practitioners, storytellers, among others), recording, digitization, metadata creation, transcription, and glossing. The text collection will be prepared in two formats; an original version and a glossed version for linguistic analysis. Text glossing will involve creating a database of lexical items from texts. The texts and audio recordings will be archived at the Archive of Indigenous Languages of Latin America at the University of Texas. Copies will also be given to the community to support language related work.This project will contribute to the documentation of Q'anjob'al by making a text collection of the most endangered linguistic genres available to the Q'anjob'al community and to the public. It will also advance the analysis of the syntax and semantics of Mayan languages by analyzing Q'anjob'al. Although the syntax of Mayan languages has received a great deal of attention in previous studies, a unified analysis of complex predicates is not available. Third, it is of intellectual merit to general linguistics because it will provide a detailed description and analysis of complex predicates focusing on different levels of analysis. This case study of several complex predicates within one single language will contribute to our general understanding of complex predicates. Fourth, the text collection will contribute material to linguistic, computational and anthropological analysis, and related fields. It will also support language preservation in the Q'anjob'al community because the texts may be used for other projects (e.g. radio programs, materials for schools, etc). In general, its broader impact is to bring together theoretical, descriptive, and documentary linguistics. Furthermore, the project falls within a broader movement towards language documentation, language revitalization, and training of native speakers since it will train two native speakers of Q'anjob'al, in connection with community needs related to language.