Doctoral Dissertation Research: Linguistic documentation and description of an endangered language

Understanding the use of grammatical structures in innovative modes of language expression supports a scientific explanation of how language is used to express the range of human experience. This doctoral dissertation project describes the grammar of a language and analyzes how that grammar changes in innovative modes of language expression. This project yields new knowledge about the nature of the grammar and mechanisms for verbal expression, which in turn broadens the linguistic basis for artificial intelligence and other language technologies. The project also benefits society by supporting workforce development through training in computational and other language science research methods, and by creating tools for presenting and disseminating research products in educational contexts. Languages show significant variety in their grammars, including how grammars are used in innovative modes of language expression. Understanding the range of human expression through language is critical for understanding the nature and range of human capacity itself. This doctoral dissertation project documents and analyzes the grammar and sound structure of a language by recording and analyzing speech in a variety of genres and by collaborating with community members to understand its grammatical patterns. An emphasis is placed on a system of metrics in a model of language expression that has a complexity and type normally associated with written language. Both the grammatical description and the study of diverse modes of verbal expression are used to produce pedagogical materials and archives, intended to provide the scientific community with a model for leveraging linguistic research for concrete translational benefits. 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.