Doctoral Dissertation Research: Linguistic Analysis of Desano [ISO 639 des]

University Of Utah, Salt Lake City UT

Investigators

Abstract

Several of the Tukanoan languages in the upper Amazon are highly endangered. The Eastern Tukanoan people are famous for their linguistic exogamy and 'obligatory' multilingualism; there are some 20 languages in the region whose speakers must marry someone who speaks a different language. In this dissertation project, funded by the National Science Foundation, Wilson Silva of the University of Utah will undertake a linguistic description and analysis of Desano, an endangered Tukanoan language of the Vaupes Region of Brazil. Under the supervision of Dr. Lyle Campbell, the primary goal is a detailed grammar for Desano that will highlight a number of linguistic traits in Desano of particular interest to linguists in general. These include: nasal harmony (in phonology), the noun classifier system (in morphology), and the evidential system (in the interface of morphology/syntax/semantics). There is a need for documentation of this language, not only in printed form, but also audio and audiovisual recordings. The comparative, historical and typological analysis of the Tukanoan languages is currently underdeveloped, and will not be available to future linguists without the kind of documentation being undertaken here. This project will provide a comprehensive description and documentation of Desano, one of the most endangered Tukanoan languages, which has been only poorly documented before. The results will be made available to linguists, community members, and the public. The project also contributes to the communities where the language is spoken by providing a basic practical grammar and a collect of tales and stories, which will be used in language revitalization programs (particularly in the schools). The project will contribute to a parallel program to train teachers and community researchers for teaching the language and preparing pedagogical materials in the language, and for collecting and preserving the language and associated oral traditions. The results will contribute to general linguistic scholarship in significant ways, since accurate accounts of the traits mentioned are of considerable interest for linguistic theory. The indigenous community and linguists in Brazil will benefit from the planned publication of a Portuguese version of the dissertation, which may serve as a model for future Tukanoan studies.