Words, phrases, and sentences at the interface of phonology and morphosyntax

这个项目旨在确定如何根据语音模式和现象(如语调或重音位置)来描述语言的基本语言单位，如词、短语、句子。初步调查发现，单词部分的组合模式(即定义形态或语法单词的模式)与与这些字符串相关的韵律或语音模式和现象之间存在严重的不匹配。这个项目确定了韵律和音系特征的集合，定义了它们的领域的过程，以及这些特征如何与语法(形态合成)和句法结构相结合，以及语调在标记单词、短语和句子中的焦点方面的作用。然后我们可以自信地假设单词、短语、句子(或任何其他单位)的语音特征是什么，以及它们是如何整合在一起的。这些发现构成了一个大型可搜索数据库的基础，该数据库作为一个资源，促进了重要的跨语言比较，为研究音系学-形态句法界面开辟了新的前景。这个项目为少数语言使用者在科学上的初步研究提供了重要的机会，这些少数语言使用者是科学家群体中代表性极低的群体，因此这项活动有助于将语言学作为一门学科去殖民化。研究分析了单词、短语或句子等基本单位是如何以语音韵律的方式定义的(声音共现和交替的分布，语调模式等)，基于器乐声学数据支持的量化有效样本，并纳入了不同人口统计亚组说话者(男性与女性，年轻人与中年人与老年人，不同地区的说话者，是否活跃的双语者，濒危语言的说话者与健康语言的说话者，等等)之间潜在的语音差异。该项目为模拟可能在不同历史时期运行的或目前正在进行的各种变化过程奠定了基础，无论这些变化是由于语言接触还是由于语言接触，从而显著促进了类型语言学和接触语言学的发展。除了建立全面的、可搜索的在线数据库外，研究成果还将通过个别语言的出版物以及比较研究进行传播。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 is designed to determine how the basic linguistic units of language such as word, phrase, sentence can be characterized in terms of sound patterns and phenomena such as intonation or stress placement. Preliminary investigations have revealed significant mismatches between the combinatorial patterns of parts of words, i.e., what defines morphological or grammatical words, and the prosodic or phonological patterns and phenomena that are associated with such strings. This project identifies sets of prosodic and phonological features, the processes that define their domains, and how these do (or do not) interface with grammatical (morphosyntactic) and syntactic structures, as well as the role of intonation in marking focus in words, phrases, and sentences. We can then confidently hypothesize what the characteristic phonological properties of words, phrases, sentences (or any other unit) are and how these are integrated. The findings form the basis of a large searchable database serving as a resource to facilitate significant cross-linguistic comparison that opens new prospects for examining the phonology-morphosyntax interface. This project offers major opportunities for primary research in science by speakers of minority languages who are vastly underrepresented communities of scientists and thus this activity helps decolonize linguistics as a discipline.The research analyzes how basic units like word, phrase or sentence are defined phono-prosodically (distribution of sound co-occurrences and alternations, intonational patterns, etc.), based on quantitatively valid samples supported by instrumental acoustic data and incorporating potential phonetic variation across different demographic subgroups of speakers (male vs. female, young vs. middle aged vs. elderly, speakers of different regional varieties, actively bilingual speakers or not, speakers of endangered languages vs. speakers of healthy languages, etc.). The project sets the foundation for modeling the various processes of change that may have operated at different historical periods or which may be currently ongoing, whether these are due to language contact or not, thus significantly advancing typological linguistics and contact linguistics. In addition to producing the comprehensive, searchable online database, research findings are to be disseminated through publications on individual languages as well as in comparative studies.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.