Argument Asymmetries in Comparative Bantu Syntax

比较班图语法中的参数不对称

• 批准号: 8919880
• 负责人: Joan Bresnan
• 金额: $ 24.9万
• 依托单位: Stanford University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 1990
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1990-02-01 至 1993-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=8919880&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Argument; Asymmetries; Comparative; Bantu; Syntax

ABSTRACT This project is a comparative study of the ways in which the syntax of subjects and objects interacts with semantic roles and discourse functions in several Bantu languages. The objective is to test and further develop the theory that asymmetries in the syntactic behavior of verbal arguments universally arise from underlying semantic and pragmatic hierarchies which are formally associated with underspecified syntactic functions, following a line of research initiated in Bresnan and Kanerva (1989). This theory combines aspects of both the functionalist and the formalist linguistic traditions in explaining argument asymmetries in Bantu and other languages. If it is correct, the theory has significant consequences for understanding the relations of discourse, syntax, and morphology and implies that the sharp division of labor that current linguistic practice continues to impose between "sentence grammar" and "discourse grammar" has led to uninsightful or incomplete accounts of important linguistic phenomena. In research over three years the project team will systematically analyze subject and object properties in eight Bantu languages that vary in the extent of asymmetry among verbal arguments. The phenomena analyzed will include locative inversion, unaccusativity, and presentational focus; interactions of argument-adding and argument-suppressing processes; agreement, word order, and extractions; and topic and focus marking, including phonological marking.

摘要该项目是对主题和对象语法与语义角色和话语功能相互作用的方式的比较研究。 目的是测试并进一步发展这样的理论，即言语论证的句法行为中的不对称性是由基本的语义和务实层次结构引起的，这些语义和务实的层次结构与未经言语的句法函数正式相关，是在Bresnan和Kanerva（1989）中引发的一系列研究。 该理论结合了功能主义者和形式主义语言传统的各个方面，以解释班图和其他语言的不对称论点。 如果是正确的，那么该理论对理解话语，语法和形态的关系产生了重大影响，这意味着当前语言实践继续在“句子语法”和“话语语法”之间施加了急剧的劳动分裂，导致对重要语言现象的毫无意义或不完整。 在三年的研究中，项目团队将系统地分析八种班图语的主题和对象性质，这些语言在口头论点之间的不对称程度方面有所不同。 所分析的现象将包括定位倒置，不依赖性和表达重点。参数添加和参数支持过程的相互作用；协议，单词顺序和提取；和主题和焦点标记，包括语音标记。