Haida Syntax, Vol. 2

海达语是不列颠哥伦比亚省夏洛特女王群岛和阿拉斯加东南部一个社区使用的一种美洲原住民语言，目前情况危急。剩下的几位发言者都年事已高，身体也不好。这是对这种语言进行永久记录的关键时期，这种语言鲜为人知，但由于其语法独特性和它与西北海岸其他语言的历史关系而具有重要意义。从1975年到1995年，PI研究了海达，记录了声音系统和语法，编写了词典，并记录了地名，人名，口头叙述和音乐。该项目的目标是完成海达语语法两卷本研究的第二卷（第一卷于1996年完成）。第二卷的篇幅和范围将与第一卷相当，目前已起草了大部分内容，但需要两年的全职工作才能完成，其间将进行几个月的实地考察，以解决问题。这项研究对对比较句法感兴趣的语言学家来说意义非凡，对那些努力为后代保存自己语言的海达人来说也具有实用价值。

Haida, a Native American language spoken on the Queen Charlotte Islands in British Columbia and in one community in Southeastern Alaska, is in critical condition. The remaining handful of speakers are all old and in ill health. This is the critical period for making a permanent record of the language, which is little known but significant both for its grammatical uniqueness and for the light it sheds on historical relations with other languages in the Northwest Coast. The PI studied Haida from 1975 to 1995, documenting the sound system and grammar, preparing a dictionary, and recording place names, personal names, oral narratives, and music. The goal of the project is to complete the second of a two-volume study of Haida syntax (volume 1 was completed in 1996). Much of the second volume, which will equal the first in size and scope, is drafted, although two years of full-time work are required to finish it, during which several month-long field trips will be undertaken to resolve problems. This study will be particularly significant for linguists interested in comparative syntax and will be of practical value to those Haidas who are working to save something of their language for future generations.