Doctoral Dissertation Research: Degree semantics in Washo and cross-linguistic variation

沃索语是加利福尼亚州和内华达州太浩湖地区使用的一种美洲原住民语言。它是高度濒危的，只剩下为数不多的以英语为母语的老年人。WASHO使用两种策略来表示对象的比较(参见中文：约翰比玛丽高)：连体比较，两个包含反义词的独立从句并列；方位比较，比较的标准用处所后缀或后缀标记。虽然这两种比较策略在世界语言中的类型学上都很常见，但在形式语言学中，这两种结构的研究仍然很少。在克里斯托弗·肯尼迪博士的指导下，Ryan Bochnak先生将与其他一些发言者一起在Washo社区进行主要的田野调查，以调查这两个比较句在语言中的语义特征。数据将通过启发式课程收集，博奇纳克将在会上收集翻译、叙述和对构建的例子的判断，以得出对Washo的比较和与学位相关的结构的更完整的图景。特别令人感兴趣的是对比较结构中标量性质的解释，以及它们与修饰语和量词的可接受性。所有收集的数据都将由Bochnak先生以数字方式记录和转录。对WASHO数据的分析将揭示这样一个问题：尽管在词法和句法上存在差异，但不同语言之间在多大程度上存在共同的语义比较。这项研究遵循了最近一种日益增长的趋势，即使用研究不足的语言的数据来测试针对更广泛语言的语义理论。此外，该项目将对高度濒危语言的永久记录作出重大贡献，收集的材料将以在线数据库中带注释的启发式会议录音的形式提供给WASHO社区。

Washo is a Native American language spoken in the Lake Tahoe area of California and Nevada. It is highly endangered, with only a handful of elderly native speakers left. Washo makes use of two strategies for expressing comparison of objects (cf. English: John is taller than Mary): conjoined comparison, where two independent clauses containing antonyms are juxtaposed; and locative comparison, where the standard of comparison is marked with a locative postposition or suffix. While both strategies for comparison are typologically quite common in the world's languages, these constructions remain under-studied in formal linguistics. Under the direction of Dr. Christopher Kennedy, Mr. Ryan Bochnak will conduct primary fieldwork in the Washo community with some of the remaining speakers to investigate the semantic properties of the two comparison constructions in the language. Data will be collected through elicitation sessions where Mr. Bochnak will collect translations, narratives, and judgements on constructed examples to arrive at a more complete picture of comparisons and degree-related constructions in Washo. Of particular interest is the interpretation of scalar properties in comparison constructions, as well as their (un)acceptability with modifiers and measure terms. All data collected will be digitally recorded and transcribed by Mr. Bochnak. The analysis of the Washo data will inform the question of to what extent there exists a common semantics for comparison across languages, despite divergences in morphology and syntax.This research follows a recent and growing trend of using data from under-studied languages to test semantic theories against a broader range of languages. In addition, this project will make a significant contribution to the permanent record of a highly endangered language, with the materials collected being made available to the Washo community in the form of annotated recordings of elicitation sessions in an online database.