Doctoral Dissertation Research: Alignment in the Grammar of Tupari, an Endangered Language of the Brazilian Amazon

语言学家试图研究各种各样的语言的一个原因是，即使是基本的句子，也可能表现出截然不同的方式。因此，虽然英语通常被认为有主语和宾语与动词一起组成句子，但语言学家已经展示了主语的更大范围的行为方式，特别是在主语与动词的关系以及他们在句子中扮演的角色方面。比如，有些科目是动作的动因，比如《她看见了猫》，有些科目是动作的病人，比如《球是男孩扔出来的》，还有一些科目是空的占位符，比如《学数学很重要》中的“it”。对于这些主体角色和客体角色的模式，语言显示了各种各样的方法，其中一些模式非常少见。记录和分析这些被语言学家称为“对齐”的模式，对于更好地理解人类语法中的跨语言变异是很重要的。在这个论文项目中，博士生Adam Roth Singerman将记录图帕里语的语法，图帕里语是一种濒危语言，大约有300人在巴西罗多尼亚的里约布兰科土著保护区的村庄里使用。与社区密切合作，Singerman将首先记录图帕里语中各种有趣的语法现象。这种对语言形态句法的理论中立的描述将成为该语言第一个完整的参考语法的基础。它还将为对几个关键主题进行更详细的理论研究奠定基础，特别是图帕里所展示的语法对齐模式(作格-绝对和主格-宾格)。图帕里语中的对齐方式与之前文献中的概括相悖，因此更深入地研究它对于类型学研究和句法理论都很重要。除了创建图帕里语语法的全面、完整的描述外，Singerman还将与社区合作开发本地扫盲材料。这篇论文还将有助于对图皮亚族的比较分析，引用历史上与图帕里语相关的朗多尼亚语言，包括加维昂、迈肯斯和卡里提纳。

One reason that linguists seek to investigate a wide variety of languages is because even basic sentences can behave in radically different ways. So while English is often thought of as having subjects and objects that work with verbs to create sentences, linguists have shown a much larger range of ways that subjects behave, especially in terms of their relationships to the verb and the roles they play in sentences. For example, some subjects are the agent of the action, such as "She saw the cat," others are patients of the action, as in "The ball was thrown by the boy," and some subjects are empty placeholders, such as the "it" in "It is important that you study math." Languages show a wide variety of approaches for how these subject roles and object roles pattern, and some of these patterns are quite rare. Documenting and analyzing these kinds of patterns, which linguists call "alignment", is important for a larger understanding of the cross-linguistic variation in human grammar. This dissertation will add deeper insight to the less frequent type of patterns ("typology").In this dissertation project, doctoral student Adam Roth Singerman will document the grammar of Tupari, an endangered language spoken by perhaps 300 people in villages in the Rio Branco Indigenous Reserve, in the Brazilian state of Rondônia. Working closely with the community, Singerman will first document a wide variety of interesting grammatical phenomena in Tupari. This theory-neutral description of the language's morphosyntax will serve as the basis for the first complete reference grammar of the language. It will also create a foundation for more detailed, theoretical investigation into several key topics, focusing especially on the grammatical alignment patterns (both ergative-absolutive and nominative-accusative) which Tupari shows. Alignment in Tupari behaves in ways that defy previous generalizations from the literature, so studying it in greater depth is important for typological research and for syntactic theory. In addition to creating a comprehensive, complete description of Tupari grammar, Singerman will also collaborate with the community to develop native literacy materials. The dissertation will also facilitate comparative analysis of the Tupian family, drawing from languages of Rondônia that are historically related to Tupari, including Gavião, Mekens, and Karitiâna.