CAREER: Theory, Fieldwork, and Typology: A Semantic/Pragmatic Triad in Underrepresented Linguistic Systems

这个职业项目研究了人脑中的逻辑推理机制（语义学）和对话的语言语境（语用学）之间的相互作用。该项目包括对四种不同的、未被充分研究的语言进行详细的实地考察，这些语言将揭示语义学和语用学及其相互作用中的理论和类型学共性。调查的重点是“语篇小品”的使用和解释，这是一种语言单位（通常是句子中的小功能词），用于跟踪和传达人际对话的各种上下文方面。这是一个未被充分探索的研究领域，在解决人类语言如何表达推理、推断、信仰和知识等基本问题方面具有巨大潜力。本项目通过语篇粒子的视角研究语篇能力的实证、理论和类型基础，推动数据理论-类型学三位一体，重点关注三个方面：情态语篇粒子及其补语；语篇助词与时态、体、态的相互作用话语助词与非规范言语行为。除了研究成果外，结果还包括为面向理论的语义/语用实地考察创建标准化的开源材料，可用于任何语言；通过实地工作实验室的经验和理论多样性，对研究生和本科生进行现代方法论培训；招募和参与的母语和社区/传统语言学家从历史上在学术界的少数群体。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This CAREER project investigates the interaction between the logical reasoning machinery inside the human brain (semantics) and the linguistic context of conversation (pragmatics). The project involves detailed fieldwork on four diverse, understudied languages that will uncover theoretical and typological universals in semantics and pragmatics and their interaction. The investigation focuses on the usage and interpretation of "discourse particles," which are linguistic units (often small function words in a sentence) that track and convey various contextual aspects of interpersonal conversations. This is an underexplored area of research with great potential to address fundamental questions about how human languages express reasoning, inferences, beliefs, and knowledge.This project promotes a data-theory-typology triad by studying the empirical, theoretical, and typological underpinnings of discourse competence through the lens of discourse particles with a three-pronged focus: modal discourse particles and their complements; interaction of discourse particles with tense, aspect, mood; discourse particles and non-canonical speech acts. In addition to research output, results will include the creation of standardized open-source materials for theory-oriented semantic/pragmatic fieldwork that can be used for any language; training of graduate and undergraduate students in modern methodologies informed by empirical and theoretical diversity in a fieldwork lab; and recruitment and involvement of native speaker and community/heritage linguists from groups historically minoritized in academia.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.