Documentation and acquisition of Light Warlpiri and Warlpiri

在大多数濒临灭绝的语言情境中，说话者从濒临灭绝的语言过渡到现有的多数语言。在非常罕见的情况下，儿童同时学习一种濒危语言和一种多数语言，可能会创造出一种具有两种语言特征的新的混合语言。这些不寻常的情况为这种新型交际形式的出现所涉及的社会、心理和语言机制提供了线索。密歇根大学的语言学家Carmel O’shanessy将在澳大利亚北部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。轻型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，但它也是高度濒危的。光Warlpiri的三个显著特征使得它的文档在这个时间点上尤为重要。首先，光之Warlpiri最老的使用者只有35岁左右，所以相对于语言存在的时间，光之Warlpiri是年轻的，可以观察到它的成长。其次，Light Warlpiri的结构不同寻常——动词结构来自各种英语和Kriol，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，孩子们既学习光华尔皮里语，也学习传统语言华尔皮里语，这是一种不常见的语言学习情况。通过对有阶段的和自发的语言语境的录音和录像记录，该项目将追踪儿童对瓦尔皮里语和轻型瓦尔皮里语的习得，为复杂语言语境下的双语习得以及语言濒危和语言涌现的相互作用提供见解。该项目将在现有的纵向语料库中添加音频和视频时间对齐数据，该语料库始于2002年，形成一个开放获取的儿童和成人语言视听语料库，跨度约为15年。该语料库将用于生成光瓦尔皮里语的语法草图，追踪语法特征的来源。该项目还将在Warlpiri创建在线活动，Warlpiri的年轻人和年轻人可以通过手机访问，促进Warlpiri的维护和与技术的接触。

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.