Developing the next generation of researchers investigating Khoisan languages

培养研究科伊桑语言的下一代研究人员

• 批准号: 1760980
• 负责人: Christopher Collins
• 金额: $ 19.62万
• 依托单位: New York University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2018
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2018-06-01 至 2024-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1760980&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Developing; next; generation; researchers; investigating

Click sounds are some of the most complex and difficult to produce sounds of all the languages of the world. Most scientific research on the Khoisan languages (the non-Bantu click languages of Africa), has focused on their sound systems because this complexity illuminates cognitive patterns and physiological mechanisms relevant for human language. However, because far less attention has been paid to their grammatical systems, Khoisan languages have had little or no impact on current syntactic theories. To achieve a deeper scientific knowledge of the Khoisan languages, this project will study morphosyntactic aspects of two completely undescribed languages: Cua and Tshila (classified as central Khoisan or Khoe-Kwadi languages). Such data sets will also clarify the linguistic classification of the central Khoisan languages, and their historical connections to other Khoisan languages. The project's training component will bring advanced undergraduates and beginning graduate students to Botswana for hands-on training in linguistic research on the Khoisan languages. This will increase the number of researchers working on the highly endangered Khoisan languages while simultaneously increasing scientific knowledge about the linguistic properties possessed by these languages. The team will work closely with the language communities in developing materials and resources, of value to the communities and in educating participating students about broader impacts and community-academic collaborations. Also, because the U.S. State Department notes the importance of Botswana as a partner and as a model of stability in Africa, the national interest is served by strengthening on the ground connections and partnerships with the country and enhancing an international collaboration with the University of Botswana.The project will investigate the unique syntactic and morphological structures of Cua and Tshila, important for theoretical and typological syntactic work. For example, the grammatical sketch will cover the complex system of pronouns. English has handful of pronouns. In subject position, these are: I, you (singular and plural), he, she, we, they. Central Khoisan languages have far more pronouns. Kua (a related Khoisan language) has 31 subject pronouns (factoring in person, number, gender). The same morphological features that characterize pronouns also characterize the person-gender-number (PGN) markers found on noun phrases. For example, in Kua χam=ǁoe includes two morpheme and is glossed "lion=3MPS"; it means "male lions". The clitic (ǁoe) encodes both the notion of plurality (more than two) and masculine reference. Understanding the structure of pronouns and PGN markers and how they vary across the Kalahari Khoe languages is one of the central scientific goals of the project. The project will result in a dictionary, linguistically annotated recordings of texts, literacy resources, and a grammatical sketch, as well as disseminating results in journal articles. The project will also help to document the rich cultural heritage of Botswana, and southern Africa more generally. All the documentation and related materials will be archived in a public digital collection at ELAR, the Endangered Language Archive.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.

点击音是世界上所有语言中最复杂和最难产生的声音。大多数关于科伊桑语（非洲的非班图语）的科学研究都集中在它们的语音系统上，因为这种复杂性阐明了与人类语言相关的认知模式和生理机制。然而，由于对其语法系统的关注少得多，科伊桑语对当前的句法理论几乎没有影响。为了更深入地了解科伊桑语，该项目将研究两种完全未描述的语言的形态句法方面：Cua和Tshila（被归类为中央科伊桑语或Khoe-Kwadi语言）。这些数据集还将澄清中央科伊桑语的语言分类，以及它们与其他科伊桑语的历史联系。该项目的培训部分将把高年级本科生和刚开始研究生带到博茨瓦纳，接受科伊桑语语言研究方面的实践培训。这将增加研究高度濒危的科伊桑语的研究人员的数量，同时增加有关这些语言所拥有的语言特性的科学知识。该团队将与语言社区密切合作，开发对社区有价值的材料和资源，并教育参与的学生了解更广泛的影响和社区学术合作。此外，由于美国国务院注意到博茨瓦纳作为非洲稳定的伙伴和典范的重要性，因此通过加强与该国的地面联系和伙伴关系以及加强与博茨瓦纳大学的国际合作来服务于国家利益。该项目将调查Cua和Tshila的独特句法和形态结构，对句法理论和类型学研究很重要。例如，语法草图将涵盖复杂的代词系统。英语有很多代词。在主语位置，这些是：我，你（单数和复数），他，她，我们，他们。中央科伊桑语有更多的代词。库阿语（一种相关的科伊桑语）有31个主语代词（包括人称、数字、性别）。表征代词的形态特征也表征名词短语上的人-性-数（PGN）标记。例如，在夸父语中，“狮子”包含两个语素，并被注释为“狮子= 3 MPS”，意思是“雄狮”。附著词（#449;oe）编码复数（多于两个）和阳性指称的概念。 了解代词和PGN标记的结构以及它们在卡拉哈里Khoe语言中的变化是该项目的核心科学目标之一。该项目将产生一本词典、文本的语言注释记录、扫盲资源和语法草图，并在期刊文章中传播成果。该项目还将帮助记录博茨瓦纳和南部非洲的丰富文化遗产。所有的文件和相关材料将被存档在ELAR的公共数字收藏，濒危语言档案馆。这个奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得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的支持。