Doctoral Dissertation Research: Interrogative Structures and Clausal Architecture of Tlingit

博士论文研究：特林吉特语的疑问结构和从句结构

• 批准号: 0632431
• 负责人: David Pesetsky
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2007
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2007-01-01 至 2007-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0632431&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Interrogative; Structures

A central question of modern linguistics is "Which properties are shared by all human languages, and which are not?" This is a question that forms part of a general investigation into the human mind and human nature. Within linguistics, this question is addressed through careful study of the world's languages. A particular priority is the study of endangered languages, especially those whose inner workings look dramatically different from those already familiar to linguists. In this project, MIT PhD student Seth Cable will conduct a detailed study of several properties of the highly endangered language Tlingit, spoken in Alaska, British Columbia and Yukon. The focus of the study is the grammar of questions in Tlingit, especially those with so-called 'wh-words' (e.g. English "who" and "what"). Tlingit questions show an unusual mix of properties that offers crucial information about the nature of such sentences in all human languages. This research has implications for the study of human cognition more generally, with possible practical implications in such areas as language technologies for question interpretation. This project will also directly aid ongoing efforts to document and revitalize the Tlingit language. In doing so, this project will advance the preservation of this unique cultural inheritance of the Tlingit people. The recordings made during this study will be archived at the Sealaska Heritage Institute, preserving for future Tlingit generations the voices and the words of their forebears.

现代语言学的一个中心问题是“所有人类语言共有哪些特性，哪些不共有？”这个问题构成了对人类思想和人性的全面调查的一部分。在语言学中，这个问题是通过对世界语言的仔细研究来解决的。一项特别优先的工作是对濒危语言的研究，特别是那些内部工作原理与语言学家所熟悉的语言截然不同的语言。在这个项目中，麻省理工学院的博士生赛斯·凯博将对阿拉斯加、不列颠哥伦比亚省和育空地区使用的高度濒危语言特林吉特的几种特性进行详细研究。研究的重点是Tlingit的语法问题，特别是那些所谓的“wh-words”（如英语的“who”和“what”）。Tlingit问题显示出一种不同寻常的属性组合，为所有人类语言中这类句子的性质提供了重要信息。这项研究对人类认知的研究具有更广泛的意义，在问题解释的语言技术等领域可能具有实际意义。该项目还将直接帮助正在进行的记录和振兴特林吉特语的工作。这样，该项目将促进对特林吉特人这一独特文化遗产的保护。在这项研究中所做的录音将被保存在海洋遗产研究所，为未来的特林吉特人后代保存他们祖先的声音和话语。