Doctoral Dissertation Research: A Grammar of Soteapanec (Mixe-Zoque)

Soteapane语，讲于墨西哥韦拉克鲁斯州南部，是七种幸存下来的佐基语之一，据信是奥尔梅克人的后裔。Soteapanec是海湾三种佐基亚语之一，大约有30,000人说这种语言，而它的姊妹语言阿亚帕内语(有200人说)和特西斯泰佩克语(只有2人说)极度濒危。因此，在这三种语言中，Soteapanec是唯一一种海湾佐克语，可以提供支持历史和语言研究的最新文件以及用于语言维护项目的材料。本论文由语言领域研究和语言文献两部分组成。这种方法的中心是收集和分析各种体裁的录音和视频文本，如个人经历、传统故事、疾病和治疗的民族医学描述以及自然对话。录音和录像将保存在德克萨斯大学拉丁美洲土著语言档案馆，副本将保留在讲这种语言的社区，以支持语言文件工作。这项研究项目将引起普通语言学、人类学、考古学和相关领域的兴趣，因为语法将提供大量的数据和描述性分析，对理论语言学的研究、对混合佐克语的研究，特别是对海湾分支的研究，以及对中美洲语言的历史调查都是有用的。语法将有助于发展与语言有关的项目，包括在讲Soteapane语的社区中振兴语言的努力。在这方面，这一研究项目在当地社会层面上对讲这种语言的人做出了贡献，在科学层面上对行为科学中的广泛学科做出了贡献。

Soteapanec, spoken in the southern part of the state of Veracruz, Mexico, is one of seven surviving Zoquean languages believed to be descended from the Olmecs. One of three Gulf Zoquean languages, Soteapanec is spoken by approximately 30,000 individuals, whereas its sister languages, Ayapanec (with 200 speakers) and Texistepec (with only 2 speakers), are extremely endangered. Therefore, of the three languages, Soteapanec is the only Gulf Zoquean language that can contribute up-to-date documentation supporting both historical and linguistic research as well as materials for use in language maintenance projects. This dissertation project consists of linguistic field research and language documentation. The methodology centers on the collection and analysis of recorded texts, both audio and video, in a variety of genres, such as personal experiences; traditional stories; ethno-medical descriptions of illness and treatment; and natural conversation. The audio and video recordings will be archived at the Archive of Indigenous Languages of Latin America at the University of Texas and copies will remain with the communities where the language is spoken to support language documentation efforts. This research project will be of interest to general linguistics, anthropology, archaeology and related fields because the grammar will provide a body of data and descriptive analysis that is useful to research in theoretical linguistics, to research on Mixe-Zoquean languages, especially the Gulf branch, and to historical investigations on the languages of Meso-America. The grammar will contribute to the development of language-related projects including language revitalization efforts in the communities where Soteapanec is spoken. In this respect, this research project makes contributions on a local social level to speakers of the language and on a scientific level to a broad range of disciplines in the behavioral sciences.