Documentation and comparative grammatical analysis of aspects of five Iranian languages

该项目将是第一个比较研究，以描述五种主要伊朗语言的语音系统，构词过程和句子结构的基本特性：俾路支语和索拉尼语（西北），波斯语（西南），奥塞梯语（东北）和普什图语（东南）。这个项目的比较方面丰富了我们对一个主要语系的了解。 数据收集将通过标准的语言启发与母语顾问进行。研究团队将对这些数据进行转录、编目，并将其输入一个公众可访问的数据库，并使用收集到的数据为维基百科页面创建内容。这项研究的结果将以期刊文章和书籍的形式出现，列举这些语言的语法相似性和差异，从而为更广泛地描述它们提供机会，这对语言学之外的社区是有用的。本研究的理论目标是分析这些语言的一些具有挑战性的语法特征：（1）检查各种类型的省略;（2）确定附着词的位置，特别是在那些具有分裂作格结构的语言中，为研究句法、词法和音系的相互作用提供了一个理想的实验室;（3）被动结构中的微观参数变化;和（4）头部参数。伊朗语系代表了一个中心语词尾的倾向，这与线性化算法和移动在确定词序中的作用有关。理论方面为人类语言理论的发展提供了重要的数据来源，并为我们的语言知识增加了另一层。最后，这些语言的微观参数比较将在现有语言学理论的评估方面开辟新的天地，这些语言学理论涉及关于参数的长期问题，参数是否存在，如果存在，在语法结构中的位置。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估来支持。

This project will be the first comparative study to describe the basic properties of the sound systems, word formation processes and sentence structures of five major Iranian languages: Baluchi and Sorani (Northwest), Persian (Southwest), Ossetian (Northeast) and Pashto (Southeast). The comparative aspect of this project enriches our knowledge of a major language family. Data collection will be conducted via standard linguistic elicitation with native speaker consultants. The research team will transcribe, catalogue and enter the data into a database accessible to the public, and use the collected data to create content for Wikipedia pages. The results of this research will appear as journal articles and a book volume enumerating the grammatical similarities and differences of these languages, and thus opening up the opportunity for a broader description of them that will be useful to communities outside of linguistics. The theoretical goals of the investigation are to analyze some of the challenging grammatical properties of these languages: (1) examination of various types of ellipsis; (2) positioning of clitics, especially in those languages with split-ergative constructions, providing an ideal laboratory for investigating the interaction of syntax, morphology and phonology; (3) micro-parametric variation in passive constructions; and (4) the headedness parameter. The Iranian language family represents a cline of head-finality which bears on important theoretical hypotheses about the role of linearization algorithms and movement in determining word order. The theoretical aspect provides a crucial source of data for the development of theories of human language, and adds yet another layer to our linguistic knowledge. Finally, the micro-parametric comparison of these languages will break new ground in the evaluation of the existing linguistic theories regarding long-standing questions about parameters, whether they exist, and if so, where in the architecture of the grammar.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.