Doctoral Dissertation Research: The grammar of counting and measuring. A view from Tupi languages

University Of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst MA

Investigators

Abstract

Linguists and philosophers have long been fascinated with the distinction between so-called "count nouns" (e.g. dog) and "mass nouns" (e.g. blood). Across languages, these two classes of nouns tend to exhibit distinct morphological and syntactic properties that primarily show up when those nouns combine with numerals and quantifiers. Grammatical phenomena affected by the mass/count distinction include number marking and the use of classifiers and measure phrases. The project will investigate the linguistic expression of counting and measuring in two under-studied and endangered Tupi languages spoken in Brazil: Yudja (Juruna family) and Kawaiwete (Tupi Guarani family). Yudja and Kawaiwete are languages that do not obviously fit into known typologies of the count/mass distinction, and thus raise new questions for our understanding of how natural languages encode fundamental conceptual categories. Three aspects of the grammar of counting and measuring will be investigated: (i) the semantic and syntactic properties of numeral constructions and their compatibility with what appear to be notional "count" or "mass" nouns; (ii) the syntax and semantics of measure constructions, and (iii) the semantics of nominal quantifiers. The project will use a mix of methodologies, including fieldwork elicitation, production and comprehension tasks, and the examination of narratives. This project will contribute to the documentation of two endangered languages. The results will be made available to the indigenous communities who speak the two languages, and will be discussed in workshops for indigenous teachers in local schools. The theoretical component of this research has as its audience semanticists, cognitive psychologists, linguistic typologists, philosophers of language, and specialists on Tupi languages.