Doctoral Dissertation Research: Documentation of Diidxa za (ZAI) spatial language

博士生兰迪·塔克将深入研究濒危语言Diidxa za（也称为Sisthmus Zapotec）的景观特征，这是墨西哥瓦哈卡的一种语言。 塔克的研究将产生一个土地和水形态术语数据库，以及一份关于地理尺度和小尺度空间的语言和认知实践的文件。塔克的研究开发了一种研究地理和文化交叉的新方法，称为“民族地理学”。 这种方法旨在记录景观形式和特征的参考范围，以及景观在文化中的作用。 这种类型的文档可以告诉我们更多关于人类如何与周围环境相互作用的因素，如农业可持续性。该项目涉及五个社区的数据收集，以发现当地景观如何在词汇中表示;如何使用路线描述来探索景观实体作为参考框架的锚点，以及小尺度空间参考框架的语言和回忆数据。 拟议的活动将测试语言和当地地形，城市化，教育，双语和识字的非语言因素在塑造语言和非语言的空间参考实践的相对功效。由此产生的语文文件将有助于该区域正在进行的语文振兴工作。

Doctoral student Randi Tucker will conduct an in-depth study of landscape features in the endangered language Diidxa za (also known as Isthmus Zapotec), a language spoken in Oaxaca, Mexico. Tucker's study will result in a database of land and water form terminology and a documentation of linguistic and cognitive practices of reference to geographic-scale and small-scale space. Tucker's study develops a new approach in studying the intersection of geography and culture, called 'ethnophysiography'. This approach seeks to document terms of reference for landscape forms and features, and the role of landscape in culture. This type of documentation can tell us more about how humans interact with their surroundings with respect to factors like agricultural sustainability.The project involves data collection in five communities to discover how the local landscape is represented in the lexicon; how route descriptions are used to explore the use of landscape entities as anchors of reference frames, and linguistic and recall data on reference frames in small-scale space. The proposed activity will test the relative efficacy of language and the non-linguistic factors of local topography, urbanization, education, bilingualism, and literacy in shaping linguistic and non-linguistic practices of spatial reference. The resulting linguistic documentation will help with the emerging language revitalization efforts for the region.