Linguistic Fieldwork of Northwestern North American Natives

1. 1992年至1994年，四名日本语言学家（Miyaoka, Oshima， Hayatsu和Minoura）与两名美国参与者（Bright和Leer）合作，并在六名研究生（Watanabe, Hori, Sasama, Miyaoka [Akihiro]， Nakayama和Ichihashi）的协助下，进行了为期三年的北美西北部土著语言（爱斯基摩语和印第安语）研究的实地调查项目。实地调查工作每年夏季约有两个月在各自的村庄或城镇进行。在实地调查的语言中，爱斯基摩人的研究足够先进，宫冈开始研究该语言的最终语法。对于其他语言，每位研究人员根据前一年所做工作的进展情况，对各自语言的音韵、形态学或句法方面的一般或具体问题进行实地调查。除了研究助理已经发表的成果引起了海外专家的应有关注外，项目的一个宝贵成果是，他们现在已经成长为完全有能力进行自己研究的年轻研究人员。这受到了国内外关注濒危语言研究紧迫性的人们的广泛欢迎。Dr.Bright和Dr.Leer分别于11月和1月被邀请到京都大学，讨论每个人在实地工作中获得的结果和问题，以及未来发表该项目所完成工作的计划。

1. The three-year fieldwork project on the study of the native languages of the northwestern part of North America (Eskimo and Indian) was carried out from 1992 to 1994 by four Japanese linguists (Miyaoka, Oshima, Hayatsu, and Minoura) with collaboration of two American participants (Bright and Leer) and with assistance from six graduate students (Watanabe, Hori, Sasama, Miyaoka [Akihiro], Nakayama, and Ichihashi). The fieldwork was conducted about two summer months each year in the respective village or town.2. Of the languages investigated in the fieldwork, the Eskimo research is advanced enough for Miyaoka to start working on a definitive grammar of the language. For the other languages, each researcher did fieldwork on general or specific problems in the phonology, morphology or syntax of the respective language, depending upon the progress of the work done by the preceding year.3. In addition to the already published results by the research assistants which have attracted due attention from overseas specialists, it is a valuable fruit of the project that they have now grown up as young researchers fully capable of doing their own research. This is a wide welcome among those people domestic and international who are greatly concerned about the urgency of research on endangered languages.4. Dr.Bright and Dr.Leer were invited to Kyoto University respectively in November and in January for discussing the results and problems every one obtained in the fieldwork and the future plan of publishing the work accomplished in this project.