Doctoral dissertation research: Linguistic avoidance and social relations

语言在我们如何处理与他人的关系中扮演什么角色？本论文项目从一种叫做达图加的坦桑尼亚语言的角度来研究这个问题，这种语言有一个特殊的尊重词汇，只有女性使用。出于对丈夫家庭的尊重，已婚妇女避免说出姻亲的名字，以及任何与这些名字发音相似的普通词汇。为了能够在遵守禁忌的同时自由地交谈，达图加的女性开发了一套完全不同于普通语言的额外词汇。这些特殊的词汇被称为“回避语域”，在世界语言中很少见，但在非洲的一些地区、蒙古和澳大利亚都独立出现过。不幸的是，我们目前对这些回避寄存器的工作原理知之甚少，因为之前的大多数研究都依赖于对说话者的采访，而不是对实际讲话的观察。本论文项目将提供回避寄存器在日常使用中的第一个综合文档。回避语域对语言研究很重要，因为它们突出地说明了语言的社会功能；他们的动机仅仅是与性别、亲属关系和社会地位有关的人际关系。为了探索达图加回避登记的社会动态，该项目包括收集、转录和分析达图加宅基地自发互动的视听记录，以及编制回避词汇数据库。实地调查将在坦桑尼亚的Manyara地区进行，并将从该地区的几个家庭收集数据。这个项目将极大地促进我们对语言回避及其在社会生活中的作用的理解，同时也将建立我们对一种未被充分研究的语言的认识，并为世界语言多样性的记录做出独特的贡献。

What is the role of language in how we manage our relationships with other people? This dissertation project investigates this question from the perspective of a Tanzanian language called Datooga, which has a special respect vocabulary used only by women. Out of respect for their husbands' families, married women avoid saying the names of their in-laws, as well as any ordinary words in the language that sound like these names. To be able to talk freely while still observing the taboo, Datooga women have developed an entire additional vocabulary, distinct from that of the ordinary language. "Avoidance registers," as these special vocabularies are known, are rare across the world's languages, but have arisen independently in several parts of Africa, as well as in Mongolia and Australia. Unfortunately, we currently have an incomplete picture of how these avoidance registers work, because most previous research has relied on interviews with speakers rather than observation of actual speech. This dissertation project will provide the first comprehensive documentation of an avoidance register in everyday use. Avoidance registers are important for the study of language because they illustrate strikingly the social function of language; they are motivated solely by interpersonal concerns relating to gender, kinship, and social status. To explore the social dynamics of the Datooga avoidance register, this project involves collecting, transcribing, and analysing audio-visual recordings of spontaneous interaction in Datooga homesteads, as well as compiling a database of avoidance vocabulary. Fieldwork will be conducted in Manyara Region, Tanzania, and data will be collected from several families across the region. This project will significantly advance our understanding of linguistic avoidance and its role in social life, while also building on our knowledge of an understudied language and making a unique contribution to the documentation of the world's linguistic diversity.