Doctoral Dissertation Research: The Syntax and Semantics of Noun Phrases in Tarascan

这个项目研究了质量/数量的区别是如何决定塔拉斯坎（隔离，墨西哥）名词短语的结构和解释的。它着重于四个主题：复数标记的分布和解释，分类词的语义，不定冠词的解释，以及量词结构和意义的描述。有几种语言区分质量名词（如英语中的“honey”）和计数名词（如英语中的“dog”）。质量名词不直接与数字结合，而可数名词则直接与数字结合。一个跨语言的趋势是，指代物质的名词是质量名词，而指代限定物体的名词是计数名词。然而，有些名词表现得像质量名词，尽管它们指的是被限定的物体（例如英语中的“家具”）。因此，质量名词和计数名词之间的语法区别并不完全由语言外的因素决定，在某种程度上，它是任意的，受语言变化的影响。Tarascan在对质量-数量区分的实证研究中特别有启示，因为它区分了不是两类而是三类名词：计数名词，如“wichu”（狗），质量名词，如“tsamuwa”（蜂蜜），第三类，我们称之为“计数-质量”名词（Doetjes 1997）。第三类包括“purhú”（南瓜）和“thatsïni”（豆子）等项目。它们与质量名词有一些相同的语法性质，与可数名词有一些相同的语法性质，在其他方面，它们构成了自己的一类。质量/计数领域的三方区别要求对塔拉斯坎名词短语中某些功能范畴的语义进行修正。例如，虽然质量名词拒绝复数形态，而指代多个实体的可数名词必须使用复数形态，但用可数质量名词进行复数标记的精确贡献不能用复数的规范理论来解释。此外，塔拉斯坎语的分类器和复数标记可以在名词短语中同时出现，这在众所周知的类型学概括中是不可预料的。本研究阐明了量词在量词外延个性化中的作用。本研究基于Co-PI Vázquez-Rojas在Chris Collins博士的指导下现场收集的语义和句法判断。这些数据将由四位顾问在Michoacán， mmacxico中以自然产生的话语进行启发获得。Co-PI Vázquez-Rojas还将参与培训墨西哥的年轻研究人员，以便对该国各地使用的几种土著语言进行类似的调查。

This project investigates how the mass/count distinction determines the structure and interpretation of noun phrases in Tarascan (isolate, Mexico). It focuses on four topics: the distribution and interpretation of plural marking, the semantics of classifiers, the interpretation of the indefinite article, and a description of quantifier structure and meaning. Several languages distinguish mass nouns (e.g. English 'honey') from count nouns (e.g. English 'dog'). Mass nouns do not combine directly with numerals while count nouns do. A cross-linguistic tendency is that nouns that refer to substances are mass nouns, while nouns that refer to delimited objects are count nouns. However, some nouns behave like mass nouns despite the fact that they refer to delimited objects (e.g. English 'furniture'). The grammatical distinction between mass and count nouns is thus not entirely determined by extra-linguistic factors, and to some extent it is arbitrary and subject to linguistic variation. Tarascan is particularly revealing in the empirical investigation of the mass-count distinction since it distinguishes not two but three classes of nouns: count nouns, like 'wichu' (dog), mass nouns like 'tékwa' (honey), and a third class, which we call "count-mass" nouns (Doetjes 1997). This third class includes items like 'purhú' (pumpkin) and 'thatsïni' (bean). They share some grammatical properties with mass nouns, some with count nouns and in other respects they constitute a class of their own. The tripartite distinction in the mass/count domain calls for a revision of the semantics of some functional categories within the Tarascan noun phrase. For instance, while mass nouns reject plural morphology and count nouns referring to more than one entity need it obligatorily, the precise contribution of plural marking with count-mass nouns cannot be accounted for by canonical theories of plurality. Moreover, classifiers and plural marking in Tarascan can co-occur in a noun phrase, a fact unexpected under well-known typological generalizations. This investigation elucidates the role of classifiers in individuating the denotation of count-mass nouns. This research is based on semantic and syntactic judgments collected on site by Co-PI Vázquez-Rojas under the supervision of Dr. Chris Collins. The data will be obtained by elicitation and in natural occurring discourse from four consultants in Michoacán, México. Co-PI Vázquez-Rojas will also be involved in training young researchers in Mexico to undertake similar investigations in several indigenous languages spoken around the country.