Doctoral Dissertation Research: The grammar of counting and measuring. A view from Tupi languages

语言学家和哲学家长期以来一直对所谓的“计数名词”(如“狗”)和“大众名词”(如“血”)之间的区别很感兴趣。在不同的语言中，这两类名词往往表现出不同的形态和句法特征，主要表现在这些名词与数字和量词组合时。受数量/数量区分影响的语法现象包括数字标记、量词和量词短语的使用。该项目将调查巴西使用的两种未充分研究和濒危的图皮语的计数和测量的语言表达方式：尤德加(尤鲁纳族)和卡瓦维特(图皮瓜拉尼族)。Yudja和Kawawete这两种语言显然不符合已知的计数/质量区分类型，因此对我们理解自然语言如何编码基本概念范畴提出了新的问题。数词结构的语义和句法特征及其与“计数”或“质量”名词的兼容性；(Ii)量词结构的句法和语义；以及(Iii)名词性量词的语义。该项目将使用多种方法，包括实地调查启发、制作和理解任务，以及对叙述的检查。该项目将有助于记录两种濒危语言。结果将提供给说这两种语言的土著社区，并将在当地学校为土著教师举办的讲习班上讨论。这项研究的理论部分有语义学家、认知心理学家、语言类型学家、语言哲学家和图皮语言专家。

Linguists and philosophers have long been fascinated with the distinction between so-called "count nouns" (e.g. dog) and "mass nouns" (e.g. blood). Across languages, these two classes of nouns tend to exhibit distinct morphological and syntactic properties that primarily show up when those nouns combine with numerals and quantifiers. Grammatical phenomena affected by the mass/count distinction include number marking and the use of classifiers and measure phrases. The project will investigate the linguistic expression of counting and measuring in two under-studied and endangered Tupi languages spoken in Brazil: Yudja (Juruna family) and Kawaiwete (Tupi Guarani family). Yudja and Kawaiwete are languages that do not obviously fit into known typologies of the count/mass distinction, and thus raise new questions for our understanding of how natural languages encode fundamental conceptual categories. Three aspects of the grammar of counting and measuring will be investigated: (i) the semantic and syntactic properties of numeral constructions and their compatibility with what appear to be notional "count" or "mass" nouns; (ii) the syntax and semantics of measure constructions, and (iii) the semantics of nominal quantifiers. The project will use a mix of methodologies, including fieldwork elicitation, production and comprehension tasks, and the examination of narratives. This project will contribute to the documentation of two endangered languages. The results will be made available to the indigenous communities who speak the two languages, and will be discussed in workshops for indigenous teachers in local schools. The theoretical component of this research has as its audience semanticists, cognitive psychologists, linguistic typologists, philosophers of language, and specialists on Tupi languages.