Doctoral Dissertation Research: Documenting contact and shift in a demonstrative system

University Of Chicago, Chicago IL

Investigators

Abstract

Urbanization, globalization, and environmental variability are working together to transform the Arctic region's geophysical environment, economies, and societies. Language use, particularly that by Indigenous peoples, is also profoundly affected; urbanization, for instance, brings with it considerable social and cultural change, as well as assimilation to a majority language. Environmental variability and urbanization are altering both the geophysical environment itself and the way people engage with it, as people increasingly live in urban settings and traditional ways of life are deeply altered. Language is following suit; this is particularly clear in the language used to describe the environment which is linked to subsistence activities within the traditional landscape. All languages have words for referring to aspects of the context surrounding the speech event, which may include the spatial context (e.g. here/there, this/that), the temporal context (e.g. now), speech participants (e.g. I, you, we), or other aspects. There is significant linguistic variation in which contextual aspects are encoded. Demonstratives are "pointers," or deictic words that serve to locate or point out a specific referent within the context. English makes a two-way distinction, contrasting "here/there" or "this/that." Other languages distinguish more deictic categories. Three-way distinctions (here/there/over there) are not uncommon, while others have considerably more. Some of the larger systems use demonstratives in ways that invoke aspects of the geophysical context for locating referents. However, in line with the broader geophysical changes in the real world, the linguistic systems are currently undergoing significant change and reduction. This project will document and analyze ongoing change in one such demonstrative system, documenting use and variation across different groups of speakers, in order to understand its trajectory of change and unpack the factors influencing the system. Contact with the majority, national language plays an important role, as does contact with globally dominant languages. As demonstratives are anchored to the environment, this research further speaks to the relationship between language and environment, especially within the context of rapid environmental change and evolving human-environment interactions as seen across the region. 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.