Doctoral Dissertation Research: Tense-aspect-modality in Quechua

理解语法系统的关键在于发现它们如何随着时间的推移而变化。秘鲁中部安第斯地区的奎川语为研究这种发展提供了一个极好的机会。这些语言表现出精致的时体情态系统，说话者使用这些语法系统来说明时间的差异和构建个人观点。这些语言都是从一种共同的母语派生出来的，但它们的时体情态系统在有趣的方面有所不同。可以看出，现代系统是随着时间的推移而发生的一系列变化的结果，其中一些完全是由每种语言内部的力量驱动的，有些是由与邻近语言的接触引发的。在国家科学基金会的支持下，在Marianne Mithun博士的指导下，Daniel Hintz先生将研究盖丘亚语连续体的语义和结构创新模式，以重建导致现代系统的步骤。这项研究将采用一种创新的基于语篇的重建方法，该方法以连接言语中的语法结构为基础。这种方法不仅是为了分析单个标记的语法变化，也是为了分析整个系统中的语法变化。除了描述正在形成的语法类别(即，发生了什么)，该项目还将展示每一项创新是如何从语义变化机制的角度发生的，这些机制使语法标记沿着发展道路移动。这项研究将有益于克丘亚语社区，以及对该社区进行研究的学者。在该项目过程中收集的相关语篇数据库将为今后在安第斯语言学和语言类型学的各种专题方面的工作提供丰富的经验基础。经验表明，语言记录可以增加对当地语言和文化的尊重，并使克丘亚族后代的传统民族价值观得到确认。

A key to understanding grammatical systems lies in discovering how they change over time. An excellent opportunity for examining such developments is offered by the Quechuan languages of the Andean region of central Peru. These languages exhibit elaborate tense-aspect-modality systems, the grammatical systems speakers use to specify distinctions of time and to frame personal viewpoint. The languages are all descended from a common parent language, but their tense-aspect-modality systems differ in intriguing ways. The modern systems can be seen to be the result of sequences of changes over time, some motivated solely by forces within each language, some sparked by contact with neighboring languages. With support from the National Science Foundation, and under the direction of Dr. Marianne Mithun, Mr. Daniel Hintz will investigate patterns of semantic and structural innovation across the Quechua dialect continuum in order to reconstruct the steps that led to the modern systems. The research will employ an innovative discourse-based reconstruction methodology based on grammatical constructions in connected speech. The methodology is designed to analyze grammatical change not just in individual markers, but also in the system as a whole. Beyond the account of grammatical categories in the making (i.e., what happened), the project will demonstrate how each innovation happened in terms of mechanisms of semantic change that move grammatical markers along pathways of development.This research will benefit the Quechua language community, as well as scholars doing research on that community. The database of connected discourse collected during the course of the project will provide a rich empirical foundation for future work on a wide variety of topics in Andean linguistics and linguistic typology. Experience shows that language documentation can result in increased esteem for native language and culture, and the validation of traditional ethnic values for future generations of Quechua people.