Doctoral dissertation research: The interpretation of perspectival expressions in Bulu

博士论文研究：《布鲁》透视表达的解读

• 批准号: 1528394
• 负责人: Judith Tonhauser
• 金额: $ 1.5万
• 依托单位: Ohio State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2015
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2015-07-01 至 2017-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1528394&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; dissertation; research; interpretation; perspectival

Language allows speakers to represent their own perspective or some other perspective. In spatial language, for example, in one context an expression like "to the left of" can be understood to refer to the left of the speaker, or, in another context, to the left of the addressee or some other individual whose perspective is adopted. Recent research has shown that expressions with perspective-dependent meanings are pervasive in natural language. However, there is no consensus on what the full range of such expressions is, or how participants in a conversation use contextual information to determine which perspective is being adopted. Furthermore, there is very little research on how perspective-dependent expressions work in languages other than English. However, these are important topics due to the pervasiveness of perspective-dependent expressions and because the ability to represent multiple perspectives is a feature of human language not shared by animal communication systems. Thus, understanding perspective-dependent expressions across multiple languages is a key part of understanding what human language itself is and what makes it unique among communication systems. It is also crucial for developing artificial language systems that interact more naturally with humans and incorporate contextual information with greater success.This research investigates the meanings of perspective-dependent expressions in Bulu, a Bantu language spoken in Cameroon. The researchers will study classes of perspective-dependent expressions that they have investigated previously in English. Specifically, they will investigate the meaning of motion verbs such as 'come' and perspective-dependent spatial expressions, such as 'to the left of'. Because these expressions are used differently in Bulu than in well-studied languages like English, investigating their use in Bulu will improve understanding of the range of variation in the meanings of perspective-dependent expressions. This, in turn, will facilitate the discovery of general principles involved in perspective taking across languages. This research also contributes to the documentation of Bulu and, indirectly, to the development of Bulu pedagogical materials, due to planned collaboration with researchers in Cameroon.

语言允许说话者代表自己的观点或其他观点。例如，在空间语言中，在一个语境中，像“在...的左边”这样的表达可以被理解为是指说话者的左边，或者在另一个语境中，是指说话者或其他人的左边，他们的视角被采纳。最近的研究表明，具有视角依赖意义的表达在自然语言中普遍存在。然而，对于这些表达的全部范围是什么，或者对话中的参与者如何使用上下文信息来确定采用哪种观点，还没有达成共识。此外，很少有研究如何透视依赖表达式在英语以外的语言工作。然而，这些都是重要的话题，因为普遍存在的角度依赖的表达，因为代表多个角度的能力是人类语言的一个特征，而不是共享的动物通信系统。因此，理解跨多种语言的视角依赖表达是理解人类语言本身是什么以及是什么使其在通信系统中独一无二的关键部分。这也是至关重要的人工语言系统，更自然地与人类互动，并结合上下文信息与更大的successful.This研究调查的角度依赖的表达在布鲁，在喀麦隆讲的班图语的含义。研究人员将研究他们以前在英语中研究过的视角依赖表达的类别。具体来说，他们将研究运动动词的含义，如“来”和视角依赖的空间表达，如“向左”。因为这些表达在布鲁语中的使用与在英语等被充分研究的语言中的使用不同，所以调查它们在布鲁语中的使用将有助于理解视角依赖表达的含义的变化范围。反过来，这将有助于发现跨语言视角的一般原则。由于计划与喀麦隆的研究人员合作，这项研究还有助于布卢语的文献记录，并间接有助于布卢语教材的编写。