Doctoral Dissertation Research: A Descriptive Grammar of Darma

在Anthony C. Woodbury博士的指导下，Christina M. Willis女士将为她的博士论文收集和分析数据。她的研究涉及达尔玛语，这是一种没有文字记载的藏缅语，居住在尼泊尔附近的印度喜马拉雅山脉，约有1750人使用。收集语言数据的主要方法有两种：通过与母语人士的访谈直接引出单词和句子，以及自然发生的语言使用的音频和视频记录，包括正式的讲故事，仪式演讲和非正式对话。这些数据将被编译成描述语言音系（语音系统）、词形（单词结构）和句法（句子结构）的语法。虽然反映了语言学理论的最新进展，语法将强调描述性的方法。它的目标读者是科学领域的读者，包括社会语言学家和人类学家。但是，开发教学材料的教师可以使用它。这些录音将构成一个声音和录像档案，提供达尔马语及其使用的书面记录。这项研究对语言学和人类学具有重要意义。达摩语法将有助于重建藏缅语系的语言史前史。藏缅语的遗传亚群尚不清楚。例如，学者们还不知道喜马拉雅地区的语言是如何获得南南亚语系的典型特征的。从这项研究中产生的达摩语法也将有助于语言学家和人类学家评估和扩展语言系统的理论。声音和视频档案将支持达摩语言和社会的研究。最后，语法和档案的副本将留给Darma社区，并有望为社区领导人开发脚本和制作材料的计划做出贡献，以向后代教授他们的语言。

Under the direction of Dr. Anthony C. Woodbury, Ms. Christina M. Willis will collect and analyze data for her doctoral dissertation. Her research concerns Darma, an unwritten and little documented Tibeto-Burman language spoken by about 1,750 people in the Indian Himalayas near Nepal. Two main methods will be used to collect linguistic data: direct elicitation of words and sentences through interviews with native speakers, and audio- and video-recording of naturally occurring language use, including formal storytelling, ceremonial speech, and informal conversation. The data will be compiled into a grammar describing the language's phonology (sound system), morphology (word structure), and syntax (sentence structure). While reflecting recent advances in linguistic theory, the grammar will emphasize a descriptive approach. It will be aimed at a scientific audience, including sociolinguists and anthropologists. But it will be accessible to teachers developing pedagogical materials. The recordings will constitute a sound and video archive that will provide a documentary record of the Darma language and its use. This research will be significant for linguistics and anthropology. The Darma grammar will aid in the reconstruction of linguistic prehistory in the Tibeto-Burman language family. The genetic subgrouping of Tibeto-Burman languages is unclear. For example, scholars do not yet know how languages in the Himalaya region acquired features typical of Austro-Asiatic, a language family found further south. The Darma grammar resulting from this research will also help linguists and anthropologists evaluate and extend theories of linguistic systems. The sound and video archive will support the study of Darma language and society. Finally, copies of both the grammar and the archive will be left with the Darma community and are expected to contribute to plans by community leaders to develop a script and produce materials to teach their language to future generations.