Documentation and acquisition of Light Warlpiri and Warlpiri

在大多数濒危语言的情况下，说话者从讲濒危语言过渡到现有的多数语言。在非常罕见的情况下，儿童学习濒危语言和多数语言可能会产生一种新的混合语言变体，具有两种语言的特征。密歇根大学的语言学家卡梅尔·奥尚纳西将在澳大利亚北方的一个小土著社区记录一种新出现的语言--Light Warlpiri，重点关注儿童和年轻人在语言发展中的作用。轻瓦尔皮里语是一种混合语言，使用瓦尔皮里语、英语和北领地克里奥尔语（当地以英语为基础的克里奥尔语）。虽然光Warlpiri最近出现，并仍在稳定，它也是高度濒危。光Warlpiri的三个显着特点，使它的文件在这个时候特别重要。首先，最年长的光Warlpiri发言人只有35岁左右，所以相对于语言可以存在多久，光Warlpiri是年轻的，可以观察到它的成长。第二，Light Warlpiri的结构是不寻常的-动词结构来自英语和Kriol的变体，但有一些激进的创新，名词结构-单词结尾-来自传统语言Warlpiri。第三，儿童同时学习瓦尔皮里语和传统语言瓦尔皮里语，这是一种不常见的语言学习情境。该项目将通过录制阶段性和自发性语言情境的音频和视频，跟踪儿童对瓦尔皮里语和瓦尔皮里语的习得，为复杂语言情境下的双语习得提供见解，并为语言濒危和语言出现的相互作用提供见解。该项目将在2002年开始的现有纵向语料库中增加与时间一致的音频和视频数据，形成一个开放的儿童和成人语言视听语料库，时间跨度约为15年。语料库将被用来产生一个草图的语法轻Warlpiri，跟踪语法特征的来源。该项目还将在瓦尔皮里创建在线活动，瓦尔皮里青年和年轻人可以通过手机访问，促进瓦尔皮里的维护和技术参与。

In most endangered language situations, speakers transition from speaking an endangered language to an existing majority language. In very rare situations, children learning both an endangered language and a majority language may create a new mixed linguistic variety with features of both languages. These unusual situations provide clues to social, psychological and linguistic mechanisms involved in the emergence of such novel communicative forms.Linguist Carmel O'Shannessy of the University of Michigan will document a newly emerging language, Light Warlpiri, in a small indigenous community in northern Australia, focusing on the role of children and young adults in the development of the language. Light Warlpiri is a mixed language using Warlpiri, English, and Northern Territory Kriol (a local English-based creole). Although Light Warlpiri has recently emerged and is still stabilizing, it is also highly endangered.Three striking features of Light Warlpiri make its documentation at this point in time especially important. First, the oldest speakers of Light Warlpiri are only about 35 years old, so relative to how long languages can exist, Light Warlpiri is young and can be observed as it grows. Second, the structure of Light Warlpiri is unusual - the verb structure is from varieties of English and Kriol, but with some radical innovations, and the noun structure - word endings - are from the traditional language, Warlpiri. Third, children learn both Light Warlpiri and the traditional language, Warlpiri, which is an uncommon language learning situation.Through audio and video recordings of staged and spontaneous language contexts, the project will track children's acquisition of Warlpiri and Light Warlpiri, providing insights into bilingual acquisition in a complex linguistic context, as well as insights into the interaction of language endangerment and language emergence. The project will add audio and video time-aligned data to an existing longitudinal corpus which was started in 2002, forming an open-access audio-visual corpus of children's and adults' language spanning approximately 15 years. The corpus will be used to produce a sketch grammar of Light Warlpiri, tracing the sources of grammatical features. The project will also create online activities in Warlpiri which Warlpiri youth and young adults can access from their cell phones, promoting Warlpiri maintenance and engagement with technology.