Collaborative research: Using the structure of verbal complexes to assess linguistic relationships

在没有长期书面记录的情况下，理解人类语言经历的自然变化过程是具有挑战性的。虽然像英语这样的印欧语言有数百年的这样的记录，但并不是所有的语言都是这样。对语言变化的研究为人口迁移和接触理论提供了信息、确认或质疑--也就是说，它提供了对史前历史的洞察。它的研究也有助于我们更广泛地理解语言变化是如何进行的。藏缅语和汉语一起构成了更大的汉藏语系，包括从巴基斯坦到太平洋的数百种语言。这些语言中的大多数都没有书面记录。这项裁决将调查缅甸钦邦所说的多达六种藏缅语种，到目前为止，这些语言只被记录在零碎的词汇表中。这个项目将扩大我们对以下方面的理解：声调的发展和声调现象的其他方面；声音的变化和这些语言在更大的藏缅语系中的位置；名词和动词的语法行为。更广泛的影响包括在为拉美裔服务的机构指导一名初级教员和一名研究生；本科生培训；缅甸语言学和语言文献能力建设；以及为社区语言保存和振兴目标提供材料支持。该项目有可能在该地区发挥“软实力”的作用，加强美缅接触并赋予当地社区权力，这两项都是美国国务院的重要目标。通过仔细调查和分析有关语言的动词复合体(动词加上与之相关的特定有意义的成分)的结构，调查人员将测试了解这些结构在多大程度上有助于对相关语言进行适当的分类。以前对语言进行分类的尝试主要是基于个别单词中特定声音的发展，这种方法往往无法提供明确的分类；目前的项目将更加强调为了分类的目的而考虑特定的语法现象。在过去的几十年里，对钦邦的访问一直受到严格的限制，阻止了更全面的数据收集，这将有助于阐明这些语言的历史。目前，外国学者进入该地区的机会之窗。这个合作项目将一名在邻国运营语言文档项目具有丰富经验的PI与一名来自文化圈内人士钦邦的PI配对。这两位私人助理都是钦邦以及缅甸、孟加拉国和印度邻近地区的知名语言专家。这一奖项反映了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。

Understanding natural processes of change that human languages undergo is challenging in the absence of long-term written records. While there are centuries of such records for Indo-European languages like English, this is not the case for all languages. The study of language change informs, confirms, or disputes theories of population movement and contacts--that is, it provides insights into prehistory. Its study also contributes to our appreciation of how language change proceeds more generally. Tibeto-Burman, along with the Sinitic or Chinese languages, constitutes the larger Sino-Tibetan family, including hundreds of languages stretching from Pakistan to the Pacific. Most of these languages have no written record. This award will investigate as many as six Tibeto-Burman languages spoken in Chin State, Myanmar, which up to now have only been recorded in fragmentary wordlists. This project will expand our understanding of: development of tone and other aspects of tonal phenomena; sound changes and the position of these languages in the larger Tibeto-Burman language family; the grammatical behavior of nouns and verbs. Broader impacts include the mentoring of a junior faculty member and a graduate student at a Hispanic-Serving Institution; undergraduate training; capacity-building in linguistics and language documentation in Myanmar, and materials support for community language preservation and revitalization goals. This project has the potential to act as "soft power" in the region, strengthening U.S.-Myanmar engagement and empowering local communities, both of which are important U.S. State Department objectives. Materials collected under the project will be archived with the Pacific and Regional Archive for Digital Sources in Endangered Cultures.By careful investigation and analysis of the structure of verbal complexes (verbs plus specific meaningful elements associated with them) for the languages in question, the investigators will test the extent to which understanding these structures contributes to a proper classification of languages with respect to related languages. Previous attempts to classify languages are based primarily on developments of specific sounds in individual words, a method which often fails to provide unambiguous classification; the current project will place greater emphasis on the consideration of specific grammatical phenomena for purposes of classification. Access to Chin State has been highly restricted for the last several decades, preventing fuller data collection which would illuminate the languages' history. Currently, there is a window of opportunity for access to the region by foreign scholars. This collaborative project pairs a PI with extensive experience running language documentation projects in neighboring countries, and a PI who is himself originally from Chin State, a cultural insider. Both PIs are established specialists in the languages of Chin State and the adjacent areas of Myanmar, Bangladesh, and India.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.