Doctoral Dissertation Research: A Grammar of Soteapanec (Mixe-Zoque)

Soteapanec语，在墨西哥韦拉克鲁斯州南部使用，是被认为是奥尔梅克人后裔的七种幸存的佐昆语言之一。作为三种海湾佐昆语之一，Soteapanec有大约30，000人使用，而其姊妹语言Ayapanec（有200人使用）和特克西斯特佩克（只有2人使用）则极度濒危。因此，在这三种语言中，Soteapanec是唯一一种可以提供最新文献支持历史和语言研究以及语言维护项目使用的材料的海湾Zoquean语言。本论文项目包括语言学领域研究和语言文献。该方法集中于收集和分析记录文本，包括音频和视频，各种类型，如个人经历;传统故事;疾病和治疗的民族医学描述;和自然对话。录音和录像将在得克萨斯大学拉丁美洲土著语言档案馆存档，副本将保留在使用该语言的社区，以支持语言文献工作。这个研究项目将感兴趣的普通语言学，人类学，考古学和相关领域，因为语法将提供一个数据和描述性分析，这是有用的理论语言学研究，研究Mixe-Zoquean语言，特别是海湾分支，并对中美洲语言的历史调查。该语法将有助于语言相关项目的发展，包括在使用Soteapanec语的社区开展语言振兴工作。在这方面，该研究项目在当地社会层面上为语言使用者做出贡献，并在科学层面上为行为科学的广泛学科做出贡献。

Soteapanec, spoken in the southern part of the state of Veracruz, Mexico, is one of seven surviving Zoquean languages believed to be descended from the Olmecs. One of three Gulf Zoquean languages, Soteapanec is spoken by approximately 30,000 individuals, whereas its sister languages, Ayapanec (with 200 speakers) and Texistepec (with only 2 speakers), are extremely endangered. Therefore, of the three languages, Soteapanec is the only Gulf Zoquean language that can contribute up-to-date documentation supporting both historical and linguistic research as well as materials for use in language maintenance projects. This dissertation project consists of linguistic field research and language documentation. The methodology centers on the collection and analysis of recorded texts, both audio and video, in a variety of genres, such as personal experiences; traditional stories; ethno-medical descriptions of illness and treatment; and natural conversation. The audio and video recordings will be archived at the Archive of Indigenous Languages of Latin America at the University of Texas and copies will remain with the communities where the language is spoken to support language documentation efforts. This research project will be of interest to general linguistics, anthropology, archaeology and related fields because the grammar will provide a body of data and descriptive analysis that is useful to research in theoretical linguistics, to research on Mixe-Zoquean languages, especially the Gulf branch, and to historical investigations on the languages of Meso-America. The grammar will contribute to the development of language-related projects including language revitalization efforts in the communities where Soteapanec is spoken. In this respect, this research project makes contributions on a local social level to speakers of the language and on a scientific level to a broad range of disciplines in the behavioral sciences.