Deg Xinag Lexicon and Grammar

University Of Washington, Seattle WA

Investigators

Abstract

0137483 Hargus This linguistics project involves field research on the Yukon dialect of Deg Xinag (also known as Ingalik, Dig Hit'an), an endangered Athabascan language spoken in several villages along the lower Yukon and Kuskokwim Rivers and tributaries thereof. Primary results of the research will be a grammar and a dictionary. A special topic of investigation for the grammar is a sequence of tense. The proposed project will use standard linguistic interview techniques to elicit words and sentences, and grammaticality judgments. Some digital recordings will be made for analysis of phonetic structures of interest. The value of preserving endangered languages such as Deg Xinag is twofold. First, the information preserved is a valuable record of the culture, of interest to future members of the communities. Second, such information is needed to construct valid theories of human linguistic diversity.