Doctoral Dissertation Research: A Grammar and Interlinearized Texts of Northern Mao, an Understudied Omotic Language

北部毛语，在埃塞俄比亚西部的班巴西镇和第德萨山谷及其周围使用，是毛语系的一个成员，是渗透语系中研究最少的分支。本论文的研究将产生一本北毛的参考语法，首次对语音系统和语法结构进行了全面的描述和分析。这项工作还将编制3000个条目的毛语、阿姆哈拉语(埃塞俄比亚的民族语言之一)和英语词汇表；将民间故事和其他文本翻译成阿姆哈拉语和英语，并附上语法注释；以及关于北毛活力的研究，这种语言被认为是一种濒危语言，可能在一两代人内灭绝。语法、其他材料输出和随附的数字录音将为科学界提供全面的北毛语言记录，以防该语言因与其他语言接触而急剧变化或完全消失。北毛项目还将在以下方面造福于毛人民：将首次开发实用写作系统；词汇将帮助说毛语的学生学习阿姆哈拉语和英语；收集的课文可用于毛语扫盲学校。这些成果符合埃塞俄比亚现行政策，该政策保障少数民族发展自己的语言作为教学语言的权利，这些材料将分发给当地社区领导人、学校和政府官员。

The Northern Mao language, spoken in and around Bambassi town and the Diddessa valley of western Ethiopia, is a member of the Mao group, the least studied branch within the Omotic language family. This dissertation research will produce a reference grammar of Northern Mao, featuring the first-ever complete description and analysis of the sound system and grammatical structures. The work will also produce a 3,000 entry glossary in Northern Mao, Amharic (one of the national languages of Ethiopia), and English; a collection of folktales and other texts, translated into Amharic and English with accompanying grammatical annotations; and a study of the vitality of Northern Mao, which is considered to be an endangered language and could become extinct within a generation or two. The grammar, other material output and accompanying digital recordings will provide a thorough documentation of the Northern Mao language for the scientific community before the language changes dramatically due to contact with other languages or is lost altogether. The Northern Mao project will also benefit the Mao people in the following ways: a practical writing system will be developed for the first time; the glossary will assist Mao-speaking students learning Amharic and English; and the collection of texts may be used in the schools for Mao literacy. These results are in keeping with current Ethiopian policy which guarantees ethnolinguistic minorities the right to develop their own languages for media of instruction, and the materials will be disseminated to the local community leaders, schools and government officials.