Doctoral Dissertation Research: The Sound System of Wariho-Makurawe [ISO 639-3 var]

博士论文研究：Wariho-Makurawe 的声音系统 [ISO 639-3 var]

• 批准号: 0755751
• 负责人: Caroline Smith
• 金额: $ 1.06万
• 依托单位: University of New Mexico
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2008
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2008-05-15 至 2011-04-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0755751&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Sound; System

Warihó and Makurawe are two dialects of an endangered Uto-Aztecan language spoken in the northern Mexican states of Chihuahua and Sonora. Previous work by other researchers has made clear that the dialects differ in the structure of their sound systems, but, the descriptions are conflicting and inconclusive. In this doctoral dissertation project, co-PI Ana A. Medina Murillo of the University of New Mexico will undertake a fieldwork-based study of the sound system so that basic documentation of the sound inventories will be available as a starting point. Ms. Medina-Murillo will travel to the communities where these dialects are spoken, and record word lists, phrases and short narratives from 12 speakers of each dialect. The recordings will be analyzed acoustically with the initial aim of documenting the sounds in each dialect and their distribution. Warihó-Makurawe appears to be highly unusual in the way its sounds are distributed. It is thought to be a universal that syllables which are prominent (that is, they attract stress) support more contrasts than do weak syllables. In these languages, by contrast, glottal stop segment and [h] appear to be restricted to word-initial syllables; these syllables, however, are never stressed. If this is indeed the case, it would represent a clear contradiction to the well-established pattern. Accounting for the language's stress patterns is a necessary part of this investigation, and these will be analyzed in part by reference to its complex array of reduplicated forms. The stress patterns are difficult to analyze in part because the acoustic correlates of stress are not obvious from preliminary work with recordings of two speakers, or from reports by previous investigators. Identifying how speakers signal that a syllable is stressed is one of the key steps to accounting for the structure of the sound system of this language.Although both the Warihó and Makurawe dialects have been previously studied by professional linguists, little attention has been given to the patterns of sounds in the language, and the acoustic properties of the sounds have never been documented. One of the main reasons that speakers of the language need accurate information about their language's sounds is to develop an efficient writing system for the communities that still use the language. Similarly, the present absence of a satisfactory analysis of the sound patterns means that the basis for comparison between Warihó-Makurawe and related languages such as Yaqui, Mayo and Tarahumara is inadequate. Comparative language studies allow researchers to refine theories about language change and shed light on our understanding of the past interactions and movements of the communities concerned. This can be particularly important where written historical records are sparse, as is the case in this area. As with many indigenous languages, the survival of the Warihó-Makurawe language is threatened by pressure to use a national language, in this case, Spanish. At present there are still viable communities of speakers, making it feasible to document spoken usage by multiple members of the community. However, the long-term viability of the language is doubtful, so it will only be possible to record the information will only be available now.

瓦里霍语和马库拉瓦语是一种濒临灭绝的乌托-阿兹特克语的两种方言，分布于墨西哥北方的奇瓦瓦州和索诺拉。其他研究人员以前的工作已经清楚地表明，方言在语音系统的结构上有所不同，但是，这些描述是相互矛盾的，没有定论。在这个博士论文项目中，共同PI Ana A.新墨西哥州大学的Medina Murillo将对音响系统进行一项实地研究，以便可以作为一个起点获得音响目录的基本文件。Medina-Murillo女士将前往使用这些方言的社区，并记录每种方言12名使用者的单词列表、短语和简短叙述。录音将进行声学分析，初步目的是记录每种方言的声音及其分布。Warihó-Makurawe的声音分布方式似乎非常不寻常。 突出的音节（也就是说，它们吸引重音）比弱音节支持更多的对比，这被认为是一个普遍现象。 相反，在这些语言中，声门塞音和[h]似乎仅限于词首音节;然而，这些音节从不重读。如果情况确实如此，这将与既定模式明显矛盾。解释语言的重音模式是这项研究的必要部分，这些将通过参考其复杂的重叠形式进行部分分析。压力模式很难分析，部分原因是压力的声学相关性从两个扬声器的录音或以前的调查报告的初步工作中并不明显。识别说话者如何发出音节重读的信号是解释这种语言的语音系统结构的关键步骤之一。尽管专业语言学家以前研究过瓦里霍方言和马库拉韦方言，但很少有人关注这种语言中的语音模式，并且从未记录过语音的声学特性。说这种语言的人需要准确的语音信息的主要原因之一是为仍然使用这种语言的社区开发一种有效的书写系统。同样，目前对语音模式缺乏令人满意的分析，这意味着在瓦里霍-马库拉韦语与亚基语、马约语和塔拉乌马拉语等相关语言之间进行比较的依据不足。比较语言研究使研究人员能够完善有关语言变化的理论，并阐明我们对有关社区过去的互动和运动的理解。在书面历史记录稀少的地方，这一点尤其重要，就像这个地区的情况一样。与许多土著语言一样，瓦里霍-马库拉韦语的生存受到使用民族语言的压力的威胁，在这种情况下，西班牙语。目前，仍然有可行的社区的发言者，使其成为可能的文件口语使用的多个成员的社会。然而，这种语言的长期可行性令人怀疑，因此只能记录现在才能获得的信息。