The morphosyntax of Mada, an endangered Niger Congo language of North-Central Nigeria

马达语的形态句法，尼日利亚中北部濒临灭绝的尼日尔刚果语

• 批准号: 2753580
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University of Sussex
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2022 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2753580
• 关键词: morphosyntax; Mada; endangered; Niger; Congo

Grammatical description is crucial for language documentation, which mitigates the challenge of language endangerment. Mada, a Niger-Congo language in North-Central Nigeria is highly endangered due to insufficient documentation and the prevalence of linguistic exogamy among its native speakers. This study offers a detailed description of the grammatical categories of Mada and their relationships at phrasal, clausal and sentential levels. The data is based on a corpus of public and private monologues and dialogues constructed by the researcher. A robust morphosyntactic description is a foundation for developing primers for language teaching and learning, and improving native speakers' attitudes to the language. This research participates in the decolonising enterprise by tackling the imbalance in the documentation of languages of the Global South compared to the Global North, and demonstrates the role of native speakers in investigating, revitalising and reclaiming endangered languages.

语法描述是语言文献的重要组成部分，它可以缓解语言濒危的挑战。Mada是尼日利亚中北部的一种刚果语，由于文献不足和母语者中普遍存在的语言外婚现象，该语言处于高度濒危状态。本研究从短语、小句和句首三个层面详细描述了“马达”的语法范畴及其相互关系。数据是基于研究者构建的公共和私人独白和对话语料库。一个可靠的形态句法描述是开发语言教学和学习的基础，也是提高本族语者对语言态度的基础。这项研究通过解决全球南方语言与全球北方语言之间的不平衡来参与非殖民化事业，并展示了母语者在调查，振兴和回收濒危语言方面的作用。