Existentials at the Interface

在美国国家科学基金会的支持下，桑德拉·钟（Sandra Chung）和詹姆斯·麦克洛斯基（James McCloskey）将对五种语言中存在表达的形式、意义和用法进行为期三年的语言学研究，这些语言的语言概况与英语截然不同。先前的研究已经确定，这些表达分为一小部分类型，在形式上与位置、占有和非人格的表达密切相关。相对而言，人们对这些表达的含义和用法的变化知之甚少。与存在是一个基本概念的直觉一致，许多语言学家和哲学家认为，表达存在的句子无论其形式如何，都具有恒定的功能。但大多数先前的研究都涉及少数众所周知的和密切相关的语言。需要更广泛的调查来揭示形式的差异是否与这些表达中意义和使用模式的具体差异相关。Chung和McCloskey的研究小组将用太平洋的三种语言（查莫罗语、毛利语和萨摩亚语）和欧洲的两种语言（布列塔尼语和爱尔兰语）来调查这些问题。通过与母语人士进行实地调查、从书面语言材料和自然发生的话语中收集的数据将解决以下问题：(1)在每种语言中，哪些语言形式表达存在？(2)这些形式在语篇中是如何使用的？例如，在叙述中，表达存在的句子是否可以引入新角色或重新引入熟悉的角色？(3)对存在的表达施加了什么意义上的限制，如果有的话？它们能被用来断言某一特定对象，某一类对象，或某一类对象的存在吗？(4)这些表达的语言形式是否与其意义或功能相关？这项研究之所以重要，有几个原因。首先，它将扩大语言的范围，这些语言的存在表达被深入研究。其次，它将有助于深入了解语言形式、句子意义和话语功能的跨语言互动。第三，调查的五种语言都濒临灭绝。这项研究将对他们的文献有重大贡献，这在意义和语言使用的研究不足的领域尤其重要。

With National Science Foundation support, Drs. Sandra Chung and James McCloskey will conduct three years of linguistic research on the form, meaning, and use of expressions of existence in five languages whose linguistic profiles differ radically from English. Previous research has established that these expressions fall into a small range of types, closely connected in form to expressions of location, possession, and impersonality. Relatively little is known about variation in the meaning and use of such expressions. Consistent with the intuition that existence is a fundamental concept, many linguists and philosophers hold that sentences expressing existence have a constant function, whatever their form. But most previous research involved a small number of well-known and closely related languages. Broader investigation is needed to reveal whether differences in form are correlated with specific differences in meaning and in patterns of use in these expressions. Chung and McCloskey's research team will investigate these questions in three languages of the Pacific (Chamorro, Maori, and Samoan) and two languages of Europe (Breton and Irish). Data collected through fieldwork with native speakers, from written language materials, and in naturally occurring discourse will address these questions: (1) In each language, what linguistic forms express existence? (2) How are these forms used in discourse? In narrative, for instance, can sentences expressing existence introduce new characters or reintroduce familiar characters? (3) What meaning restrictions, if any, are imposed on expressions of existence? Can they be used to assert the existence of a particular object, of a kind of object, of every object of a certain kind? (4) Does the linguistic form of these expressions correlate with their meaning or function?This research is important for several reasons. First, it will broaden the range of languages whose expressions of existence are studied in depth. Second, it will contribute insights into the cross-linguistic interaction of linguistic form, sentence meaning, and discourse function. Third, the five languages to be investigated are endangered. This research will contribute significantly to their documentation, which is especially important in the under-studied areas of meaning and language use.