From Endangered Language Documentation to Phonetic Documentation

现代语言文献项目努力获得高质量的音频记录，以便这些材料在以后的语音分析中有用，但目前尚不清楚收集的材料有多有用。目前的项目将检查三种语言的档案材料，看看需要多少材料和什么样的材料来描述一种语言的语音。为此，将研究三种语言：塔拉乌马拉语/Rarámuri [ISO 639 tar]，格雷罗州中部巴尔萨斯山谷的纳瓦特尔语[ISO 639 ngu]和阿拉帕霍语[ISO 639 arp]。每种语言都有大量现有的文档，将对这些来源的测量结果进行检查，以确定所讨论语言的统计特性。具体来说，为了准确了解一种语言的语音结构，需要测试说话者的数量和重复的项目。来自阿拉帕霍的新证据，包括声学和静态古生物学，将被用作比较。将对这三种语言的语音进行概述，并对少数具体特征进行更深入的分析。还将生成最佳实践建议。濒危语言文献对语言科学和土著社区都具有越来越大的价值。一种语言的语音方面对于了解语言的区别是如何形成的以及对于传承学习者可能的重建是很重要的。这项研究的一个变革方面是语音规范的定义，不仅适用于濒危语言文献，也适用于任何语言文献；尽管经过多年的分析，这个问题仍未得到令人满意的解决。最后，该计划将为学生提供语言文献和语音分析方面的培训。

Modern language documentation projects endeavor to obtain high quality audio recordings so that the material will be useful for phonetic analysis at a later point, but it is not clear how useful the material being collected will be. The present project will examine archival material in three languages to see how much material, and of what sort, is needed for phonetic description of a language. To do that, three languages will be studied: Tarahumara/Rarámuri [ISO 639 tar], Nahuatl of the Balsas valley of central Guerrero [ISO 639 ngu], and Arapaho [ISO 639 arp]. These each have extensive documentation in existence, and measurements from these sources will be examined for the statistical properties of the languages in question. In particular, the number of speakers and repetitions of items required to give an accurate view of a language's phonetic structure will be tested. New evidence from Arapaho, including acoustics and static palatography, will be used as a comparison. A sketch of the phonetics of the three languages will be produced, along with a deeper analysis of a small number of specific features. Recommendations for best practice will also be generated.Endangered language documentation is of increasing value to both linguistic science and to indigenous communities. The phonetic aspects of a language are important for knowing how linguistic distinctions are made and for possible reconstruction by heritage learners. A transformative aspect of this research is the definition of phonetic norms not only for endangered language documentation but for documentation of any language; despite years of analysis, this issue has not been satisfactorily resolved. Finally, the project will provide training for students in language documentation and phonetic analysis.