Doctoral Dissertation Research: Documenting contact and shift in a demonstrative system

城市化、全球化和环境变化正在共同改变北极地区的地球物理环境、经济和社会。语言的使用，特别是土著人民的语言使用，也受到深刻影响;例如，城市化带来了相当大的社会和文化变化，以及对多数人语言的同化。随着人们越来越多地生活在城市环境中，传统的生活方式也发生了深刻的变化，环境的变化和城市化正在改变地球物理环境本身以及人们与之接触的方式。语言也是如此;这一点在用来描述与传统景观中的生存活动有关的环境的语言中尤为明显。所有语言都有用于指代围绕语音事件的上下文的方面的词，其可以包括空间上下文（例如，这里/那里，这个/那个）、时间上下文（例如，现在）、语音参与者（例如，我、你、我们）或其他方面。在语言上存在着显著的差异，其中语境方面被编码。指示词是“指针”，或指示词，用于在上下文中定位或指出特定的所指对象。英语是双向区分的，对比“here/there”或“this/that”。“其他语言区分更多的指示类别。三种方式的区别（这里/那里/那边）并不罕见，而其他人则有更多。一些较大的系统使用指示词的方式，调用地球物理背景的定位参考的方面。然而，随着真实的世界中更广泛的地球物理变化，语言系统目前正在经历重大的变化和减少。该项目将记录和分析一个这样的示范系统中正在发生的变化，记录不同演讲者群体的使用和变化，以了解其变化轨迹并揭示影响系统的因素。与大多数人接触，民族语言发挥着重要作用，与全球主导语言的接触也是如此。由于示范词与环境密切相关，因此该研究进一步说明了语言与环境之间的关系，特别是在整个地区快速的环境变化和不断发展的人类与环境相互作用的背景下。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为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来支持。

Urbanization, globalization, and environmental variability are working together to transform the Arctic region's geophysical environment, economies, and societies. Language use, particularly that by Indigenous peoples, is also profoundly affected; urbanization, for instance, brings with it considerable social and cultural change, as well as assimilation to a majority language. Environmental variability and urbanization are altering both the geophysical environment itself and the way people engage with it, as people increasingly live in urban settings and traditional ways of life are deeply altered. Language is following suit; this is particularly clear in the language used to describe the environment which is linked to subsistence activities within the traditional landscape. All languages have words for referring to aspects of the context surrounding the speech event, which may include the spatial context (e.g. here/there, this/that), the temporal context (e.g. now), speech participants (e.g. I, you, we), or other aspects. There is significant linguistic variation in which contextual aspects are encoded. Demonstratives are "pointers," or deictic words that serve to locate or point out a specific referent within the context. English makes a two-way distinction, contrasting "here/there" or "this/that." Other languages distinguish more deictic categories. Three-way distinctions (here/there/over there) are not uncommon, while others have considerably more. Some of the larger systems use demonstratives in ways that invoke aspects of the geophysical context for locating referents. However, in line with the broader geophysical changes in the real world, the linguistic systems are currently undergoing significant change and reduction. This project will document and analyze ongoing change in one such demonstrative system, documenting use and variation across different groups of speakers, in order to understand its trajectory of change and unpack the factors influencing the system. Contact with the majority, national language plays an important role, as does contact with globally dominant languages. As demonstratives are anchored to the environment, this research further speaks to the relationship between language and environment, especially within the context of rapid environmental change and evolving human-environment interactions as seen across the region.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.