Doctoral Dissertation Research: Syntactic Ergativity in West Circassian

博士论文研究：西切尔克斯语的句法作格

• 批准号: 1749299
• 负责人: Karlos Arregui-Urbina
• 金额: $ 1.56万
• 依托单位: University of Chicago
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2018
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2018-04-15 至 2020-03-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1749299&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Syntactic; Ergativity

A central question in linguistic research on the structure of sentences is how to identify the subject of a sentence, and whether this can be done in a uniform way for all languages. In many languages (e.g. English and Japanese), the subject can be identified as the most prominent element in a sentence, according to many grammatical phenomena. However, so-called ergative languages present a puzzle to this relatively stable cross-linguistic picture, since in these languages, the object, rather than the subject, behaves as the most prominent element according to some of those same phenomena. Two broad approaches have been taken in dealing with ergative languages. The first consists in claiming that ergativity is a surface phenomenon; that is, it is not a reflection of deep structural differences between ergative and nonergative languages. The second approach claims that ergative languages are in fact structurally different from nonergative languages, in that the subject is not always the most prominent element in the sentence. Settling this debate will be an important step towards gaining a better understanding of the range of possible variation in the structure of human languages.An important step in addressing this debate is the close investigation of languages that have been claimed to be ergative, since many of them remain relatively understudied. The present project focuses on one such language: West Circassian, of the Northwest Caucasian family. Based on previous descriptions of the language, the PI and co-PI adopt the second approach described above as their initial hypothesis in accounting for ergativity in this language. In order to test this hypothesis, the co-PI will work with native speakers of West Circassian in the Republic of Adygea, Russia. The data to be collected will primarily comprise recorded conversations with speakers and oral narratives. Whether the hypothesis is confirmed or not, the project will present a valuable contribution to our understanding of the limits of linguistic variation, as well as to our knowledge of currently understudied aspects of West Circassian.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

语言学研究句子结构的一个中心问题是如何确定句子的主语，以及这是否可以在所有语言中以统一的方式进行。在许多语言（如英语和日语）中，主语可以被认为是句子中最突出的成分，根据许多语法现象。然而，所谓的作格语言对这种相对稳定的跨语言图景提出了一个难题，因为在这些语言中，根据某些相同的现象，宾语而不是主语是最突出的元素。在处理作格语言时，人们采取了两种广泛的方法。第一种观点认为作格是一种表面现象，它并不是作格语言和非作格语言之间深层结构差异的反映。第二种观点认为作格语言实际上在结构上不同于非作格语言，因为主语并不总是句子中最突出的成分。解决这一争论将是更好地理解人类语言结构中可能的变异范围的重要一步。解决这一争论的重要一步是对被称为作格的语言进行仔细调查，因为其中许多语言仍然相对缺乏研究。本项目的重点是这样一种语言：西北高加索语系的西锡尔坎语。基于先前对语言的描述，PI和co-PI采用上述第二种方法作为他们解释这种语言中作格性的初始假设。为了验证这一假设，联合PI将与俄罗斯Adygea共和国的西里西亚语母语者合作。收集的数据将主要包括与发言者的谈话录音和口头叙述。无论该假设是否得到证实，该项目都将为我们理解语言变异的局限性做出宝贵贡献，也将为我们了解西锡尔兰目前研究不足的方面做出宝贵贡献。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。