A Crosslinguistic Study of Sign Language Classifiers

手语分类器的跨语言研究

• 批准号: 0112391
• 负责人: Diane Brentari
• 金额: $ 28.09万
• 依托单位: Purdue University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2001
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2001-08-01 至 2005-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0112391&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Crosslinguistic; Study; Sign; Language; Classifiers

With National Science Foundation support, Dr. Diane Brentari will conduct three years of linguistic research on the classifier systems of nine sign languages from three different families. Such systems exist in all known sign languages, but in only some spoken languages. Classifiers refer to certain properties of noun arguments but may be expressed in a variety of grammatical units. For example, they may appear in noun phrases (e.g., "grain" in "a grain of sand" in English) or verb phrases expressing motion or location (e.g., "3-handshape + go_by" in American Sign Language; translation: "A bike is going by"). In sign languages, they are typically expressed as handshapes. This research will ask whether nine sign languages use similar handshapes to express similar meanings and how each system compares to the set of all languages that contain well-developed classifier systems, both spoken and signed. The relatively young Israeli Sign Language is included to compare to more mature classifier systems. Dr. Brentari and a linguist in each language community will collect the data. Elicitation tasks target specific semantic distinctions such as stative/active, agentive/non-agentive, and telic/atelic. Researchers will analyze how each sign language uses the components of the total handshape in its classifier system to express these distinctions. The Prosodic Model of sign language phonology will provide a theoretical framework within which to organize and analyze the data.Three scientific questions motivate this study of sign language classifiers. First, this project will contribute to our knowledge of sign languages by providing cross-linguistic information about a fundamental structure that is not yet well understood. Second, this project will add to our knowledge of morphology and the way that it is expressed, since morphology in sign languages is expressed predominantly by simultaneously organized phonological units rather than by sequentially organized units. Finally, this research will contribute to our understanding of the range of classifier typology in natural languages. In addition to its scientific merit, this project will recruit native-signing Deaf undergraduate students to help analyze data, and so provide an opportunity for these students to engage in first-hand scientific research on their native languages.

在国家科学基金会的支持下，黛安·布伦塔里博士将对来自三个不同语系的九种手语的分类系统进行为期三年的语言研究。此类系统存在于所有已知的手语中，但仅存在于某些口语中。分类词指的是名词参数的某些属性，但可以用多种语法单位来表达。例如，它们可能出现在名词短语中（例如英语中“一粒沙子”中的“grain”）或表达运动或位置的动词短语（例如美国手语中的“3-handshape + go_by”；翻译：“一辆自行车驶过”）。在手语中，它们通常表示为手形。这项研究将询问九种手语是否使用相似的手形来表达相似的含义，以及每种系统与包含完善的分类器系统（口语和手语）的所有语言的集合进行比较。相对较年轻的以色列手语也被纳入其中，以与更成熟的分类系统进行比较。布伦塔里博士和每个语言社区的语言学家将收集数据。启发任务针对特定的语义区别，例如静态/主动、主动/非主动和目的/非主动。研究人员将分析每种手语如何在其分类系统中使用整个手形的组成部分来表达这些区别。手语音韵学的韵律模型将提供一个组织和分析数据的理论框架。三个科学问题推动了手语分类器的研究。首先，该项目将通过提供有关尚未充分理解的基本结构的跨语言信息，促进我们对手语的了解。其次，这个项目将增加我们对形态及其表达方式的了解，因为手语中的形态主要是通过同时组织的语音单元而不是顺序组织的单元来表达的。最后，这项研究将有助于我们理解自然语言中分类器类型的范围。 除了其科学价值外，该项目还将招募母语聋人本科生来帮助分析数据，从而为这些学生提供对其母语进行第一手科学研究的机会。