CAREER: Grammatical change and reconstruction

职业：语法变化和重建

• 批准号: 2048220
• 负责人: Don Daniels
• 金额: $ 53.85万
• 依托单位: University of Oregon Eugene
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-03-15 至 2027-02-28
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2048220&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: CAREER; Grammatical; change; reconstruction

Understanding the abstract, cognitive principles that underlie language change has long been a topic of linguistic research. However, the bulk of work on language change has focused on major world languages--in large part because they tend to have long written histories. In addition, studies employing comparative reconstruction have concentrated on identifying and recreating the words and sounds of undocumented proto-languages. This project broadens the empirical basis for theories of language change by examining change in less studied languages and language families, thereby taking on the challenge posed by languages that lack written records and, in some cases, that have previously remained understudied or entirely undocumented. It also shifts attention from identifying the words and sounds of proto-languages by developing methods for reconstructing grammar, and it applies those methods to less-described languages in order to further broaden our understanding of language change.The project’s primary methodological contribution to theories of language change is to develop research practices for reconstructing distributional restrictions. The project focuses on the distributional properties of cross-linguistically rare structures, including flexible word classes; suppletive roots for verbs of transfer that index the person and number of the recipient argument; and a focus construction that marks tense on nominal constituents. In the pursuit of these goals, the project engages team members to document previously undocumented languages. The project also provides training opportunities for indigenous researchers to prepare them for documenting understudied and endangered languages. All of the language documentation resulting directly from this project are to be stored securely in a language archive, and made freely available to community members, linguists, and any other interested parties.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.

长期以来，理解语言变化基础的抽象，认知原则一直是语言研究的话题。但是，关于语言变革的大部分工作集中在主要的世界语言上 - 很大程度上是因为它们往往具有悠久的书面历史。此外，采用比较重建的研究集中在识别和重现无证件原始语言的单词和声音上。该项目通过检查较少研究的语言和语言家族的变化来扩大语言变化理论的经验基础，从而承担了缺乏书面记录的语言所述的挑战，并且在某些情况下，这些语言以前曾被理解或完全没有证件。它还通过开发重建语法的方法来识别原始语言的单词和声音，并将这些方法应用于较少描述的语言，以便进一步扩大我们对语言变化的理解。该项目对语言变化的主要方法论贡献是为了发展研究实践来重建分布限制。该项目着重于跨语言稀有结构的分布特性，包括灵活的单词类别；转移动词的养根，该动词索引人和接受者论点的数量；以及对标称构建体的时态的重点结构。为了实现这些目标，该项目会吸引团队成员记录以前无证的语言。该项目还为土著研究人员提供了培训机会，以准备记录理解和濒临灭绝的语言。直接由该项目产生的所有语言文档将牢固地存储在语言档案中，并免费提供给社区成员，语言学家和任何其他有趣的政党。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并通过使用基金会的知识分子优点和更广泛的影响评估标准来评估值得支持。