Grammars of Wandala and Giziga

在国家科学基金会的支持下，Zygmunt Frajzyngier博士和Erin Shay博士将对两种中乍得语言--旺达拉和吉兹加语--进行完整的描述。旺达拉语在尼日利亚和喀麦隆的远北省份使用。吉兹加语只在喀麦隆遥远的北方省使用。关于这些语言的现有文件很少，而且现有的零碎材料并不总是准确的。查迪克分支是非亚洲语门中最大和最多样化的科。一些非亚细亚语言，如埃及语和闪米特语，对西方文化具有特殊的意义，长期以来一直被研究。然而，在大约150种查得语中，只有不到40种是语法描述的对象，其中一些非常粗略。乍得语系分为三个或四个分支。尼日利亚、喀麦隆北部、乍得和尼日尔都讲这种语言。在当前项目中选择用于描述的两种语言在句法、词法和音系学上彼此显著不同。它们也与已经描述的乍得语有很大不同。对这两种语言的描述将有助于对乍得语言和非亚细亚语系的比较研究。这些描述可作为编写扫盲材料的基础，并将有助于保护旺达拉和吉兹加文化遗产。对无证语言的描述不仅丰富了语言事实的集合，而且迫使人们对许多关于语言本质的理论假设进行修改。它还为其他学科的学者提供了研究文化和区域历史所需的信息。

With support from the National Science Foundation, Dr. Zygmunt Frajzyngier and Dr. Erin Shay will write complete descriptions of two Central Chadic languages, Wandala and Giziga. Wandala is spoken in Nigeria and in the Far North Province of Cameroon. Giziga is spoken only in the Far North Province of Cameroon. The existing documentation of those languages is scant, and the available fragmentary materials are not always accurate. The Chadic branch is the largest and most diversified family within the Afroasiatic phylum. Some Afroasiatic languages, such as Egyptian and Semitic, are of special significance for Western culture and have long been studied. However, out of some 150 Chadic languages, fewer than 40 have been the object of grammatical descriptions, and some of these are very sketchy. Chadic languages are divided into three or four branches. They are spoken in Nigeria, Northern Cameroon, Chad, and Niger. The two languages chosen for description within the current project differ significantly from each other in their syntax, morphology, and phonology. They also differ significantly from already described Chadic languages. The descriptions of the two languages will be useful for comparative studies of Chadic languages and of the Afroasiatic phylum. These descriptions can serve as a basis for the development of literacy materials and will contribute to the preservation of Wandala and Giziga cultural patrimony. The description of undocumented languages not only enriches the set of linguistic facts but also forces revisions of many theoretical assumptions about the nature of language. It also provides scholars in other disciplines with information necessary for the study of cultural and regional history.