Doctoral Dissertation Research: Interrogative Structures and Clausal Architecture of Tlingit

现代语言学的一个中心问题是“哪些属性是所有人类语言共有的，哪些不是？”这个问题构成了对人类心理和人性的一般调查的一部分。在语言学中，这个问题是通过仔细研究世界上的语言来解决的。一个特别的优先事项是研究濒危语言，特别是那些内部工作方式看起来与语言学家已经熟悉的语言截然不同的语言。在这个项目中，麻省理工学院博士生塞斯·凯布尔将对阿拉斯加、不列颠哥伦比亚省和育空地区使用的高度濒危语言特林吉特的几种特性进行详细研究。研究的重点是特林吉特疑问句的语法，特别是那些带有所谓的wh-词的疑问句(如英语中的“谁”和“什么”)。Tlingit问题显示了一种不同寻常的混合属性，提供了关于所有人类语言中此类句子的性质的关键信息。这项研究对人类认知的研究具有更广泛的意义，可能在问题解释的语言技术等领域具有实际意义。该项目还将直接帮助正在进行的记录和振兴特林吉特语言的努力。通过这样做，该项目将促进对特林吉特人这一独特文化遗产的保护。在这项研究期间录制的录音将在Sealaska遗产研究所存档，为未来的特林吉特人保留他们祖先的声音和文字。

A central question of modern linguistics is "Which properties are shared by all human languages, and which are not?" This is a question that forms part of a general investigation into the human mind and human nature. Within linguistics, this question is addressed through careful study of the world's languages. A particular priority is the study of endangered languages, especially those whose inner workings look dramatically different from those already familiar to linguists. In this project, MIT PhD student Seth Cable will conduct a detailed study of several properties of the highly endangered language Tlingit, spoken in Alaska, British Columbia and Yukon. The focus of the study is the grammar of questions in Tlingit, especially those with so-called 'wh-words' (e.g. English "who" and "what"). Tlingit questions show an unusual mix of properties that offers crucial information about the nature of such sentences in all human languages. This research has implications for the study of human cognition more generally, with possible practical implications in such areas as language technologies for question interpretation. This project will also directly aid ongoing efforts to document and revitalize the Tlingit language. In doing so, this project will advance the preservation of this unique cultural inheritance of the Tlingit people. The recordings made during this study will be archived at the Sealaska Heritage Institute, preserving for future Tlingit generations the voices and the words of their forebears.