Mayangna: a database and study of nominal features on its verbal inflectional system

Purdue University, West Lafayette IN

Investigators

Abstract

Mayangna: a database and study of nominal features on its verbal inflectional system. Benedicto (0345680) With National Science Foundation support, Dr. Elena Benedicto will conduct three years of research on the grammatical system of Mayangna, an endangered language in Nicaragua. The main study concerns the role of a specific type of verbal inflection, namely nominal features integrated in the verbal system. Descriptive and theoretical linguists have long dealt with inflectional systems as a way to understand the common properties of human language and, at the same type, the ways in which they can diverge. The Mayangna inflectional system provides a quite rare type of feature combination that has as yet not been analyzed, and which can contribute in important ways to our understanding of inflectional systems in general and, thus, of the nature of human language and the possible cross-linguistic variation. The data will be collected in conjunction with local indigenous teams of linguists, as part of the training/educational component of the project, and will be processed into an integrated, searchable database, which will be made available to the linguistic community. The project will contribute to the cross-linguistic mapping of inflectional systems, while developing a participatory research approach to linguistic practice, especially, to linguistic fieldwork. A team of indigenous local linguists, for whose training the PI has been responsible in the past, will be involved in the collection and processing of the linguistic data. At the same time, both undergraduate and graduate students in the U.S.A. will also be involved in collecting and processing the data, in close connection with the Mayangna team. The training and integration of U.S. and non-U.S. teams will contribute to new, more balanced ways of understanding international collaborations with indigenous communities.