Discovering Omaha Linguistic Structure through the Documentation of Fluent Omaha Elders' Voices

了解人类语言如何以及为什么以特定的方式包装信息可以揭示人类的认知过程。 人类绝大多数组织信息，以促进最大的理解。 在口语和手语中，突出的信息通常首先呈现给熟悉者。 这之后是一个语境化的评论或额外的修改。 这种信息组织被认为有助于理解。 例如，一个词的主要含义通常是第一位的，然后可能会有后缀，这些后缀可以提供进一步的修饰，例如英语中的“like”和“liked”。 世界上有一小部分语言将所有或大部分修饰信息放在单词的开头，也就是说，在前缀中而不是后缀中。 这些语言挑战了说话者如何包装信息以便听者能够最好地理解信息的理论。 许多这样的前缀语言濒临灭绝，以至于即使面对意想不到的信息组织，也能理解的认知过程的关键很快就会丢失。 高度濒危的苏族美洲土著语言奥马哈就是这样一种复杂的前缀语言。 这个项目将导致有价值的文件的各种流派的奥马哈从少数剩余的长老谁讲流利的语言。 收集的数据将为词汇结构的认知加工理论提供信息，其中评论和修饰先于词汇的语义核心。 此外，奥马哈的数据将有助于词缀组织的形态学理论：大多数语言在屈折变化之前组织派生形态学，但在奥马哈，屈折变化和派生形态学是相互交叉的。内布拉斯加印第安社区学院奥马哈语言系的社区成员迈克尔·奥尔特罗格和爱丽丝·桑索奇将与部落的长老语言咨询理事会合作，建立一个会话和叙述的数据库。在奥马哈的演讲来自三十位流利的长老。 该团队将使用最先进的语言文档协议来收集、转录和翻译数据。 这项工作将与语言学家Ardis Schienberg合作进行，他还将帮助该团队制作一本关于奥马哈动词的书。 关于奥马哈动词的音频和视频文件和材料都可以从萨姆·诺布尔博物馆获得。 该项目将扩大美洲土著语言专家的参与，通过培训他们将在该项目中获得文献语言学。

Understanding how and why human languages package information in particular ways can shed light on human cognitive processes. Humans overwhelmingly organize information in order to facilitate maximum comprehension. In spoken and signed language, salient information is most often presented to the conversant first. This is then followed with a contextualizing comment or additional modification. This organization of information is thought to facilitate comprehension. The main meaning of a word, for example, often comes first, and then, may be followed by suffixes that lend further modification, e.g. English 'like' and 'liked'. There are a small set of languages worldwide that place all or most modifying information at the beginning of the word, that is, in prefixes rather than in suffixes. These languages challenge theories of how speakers package information so that hearers can best comprehend a message. Many such prefixing languages are endangered so that the key to the cognitive processes that allow for comprehension even in the face of unexpected information organization will soon be lost. The highly endangered Siouan Native American language Omaha is one such complex prefixing language. This project will lead to valuable documentation of a variety of genres of Omaha from the few remaining elders who speak the language fluently. The data gathered will inform theories on the cognitive processing of word structure where comment and modification precede the semantic core of the word. In addition Omaha data will contribute to morphological theories on the organization of affixes: most languages organize derivational morphology before inflection but in Omaha inflectional and derivational morphology are interdigitated.Community members Micheal Oltrogge and Alice Saunsoci of the Omaha language department of the Nebraska Indian Community College will work with the tribe's Elders Language Advisory Council to create a database of conversational and narrative discourse in Omaha from thirty fluent Elders. The team will use state-of-the art language documentation protocol to collect, transcribe, and translate the data. This work will be conducted in collaboration with linguist Ardis Eschenberg who will also help the team produce a book on Omaha verbs. Both the audio and video documentation and material on Omaha verbs will be accessible from the Sam Noble museum. The project will broaden participation of Native American language experts through the training in documentary linguistics they will receive as a result of this project.