Documentation and comparative grammatical analysis of aspects of five Iranian languages

该项目将首次比较研究伊朗五种主要语言：俾路支和索拉尼语(西北部)、波斯语(西南部)、奥塞梯语(东北部)和普什图语(东南部)的语音系统、构词过程和句子结构的基本特征。这个项目的比较方面丰富了我们对一个主要语系的知识。数据收集将通过标准语言启发法与母语顾问一起进行。研究小组将对数据进行转录、编目并输入公众可访问的数据库，并使用收集的数据为维基百科页面创建内容。这项研究的结果将以期刊文章和书卷的形式出现，列举这些语言的语法相似和不同之处，从而为更广泛地描述这些语言提供机会，这将对语言学以外的社区有用。这项研究的理论目标是分析这些语言的一些具有挑战性的语法特征：(1)考察各种类型的省略；(2)词尾的位置，特别是在那些具有分裂作格结构的语言中，为研究句法、词法和音系学的相互作用提供一个理想的实验室；(3)被动结构中的微观参数变化；(4)中心语参数。伊朗语系代表着一个中心终结性的阵营，这与关于线性化算法和移动在决定词序中的作用的重要理论假设有关。理论方面为人类语言理论的发展提供了重要的数据来源，并为我们的语言知识增添了另一层。最后，这些语言的微观参数比较将在评估现有语言学理论方面开辟新的天地，这些理论涉及参数、是否存在以及如果存在，在语法架构中的位置等长期存在的问题。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project will be the first comparative study to describe the basic properties of the sound systems, word formation processes and sentence structures of five major Iranian languages: Baluchi and Sorani (Northwest), Persian (Southwest), Ossetian (Northeast) and Pashto (Southeast). The comparative aspect of this project enriches our knowledge of a major language family. Data collection will be conducted via standard linguistic elicitation with native speaker consultants. The research team will transcribe, catalogue and enter the data into a database accessible to the public, and use the collected data to create content for Wikipedia pages. The results of this research will appear as journal articles and a book volume enumerating the grammatical similarities and differences of these languages, and thus opening up the opportunity for a broader description of them that will be useful to communities outside of linguistics. The theoretical goals of the investigation are to analyze some of the challenging grammatical properties of these languages: (1) examination of various types of ellipsis; (2) positioning of clitics, especially in those languages with split-ergative constructions, providing an ideal laboratory for investigating the interaction of syntax, morphology and phonology; (3) micro-parametric variation in passive constructions; and (4) the headedness parameter. The Iranian language family represents a cline of head-finality which bears on important theoretical hypotheses about the role of linearization algorithms and movement in determining word order. The theoretical aspect provides a crucial source of data for the development of theories of human language, and adds yet another layer to our linguistic knowledge. Finally, the micro-parametric comparison of these languages will break new ground in the evaluation of the existing linguistic theories regarding long-standing questions about parameters, whether they exist, and if so, where in the architecture of the grammar.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.