A linguistic microvariation approach to complementizers and complementation

University Of Kansas Center For Research Inc, Lawrence KS

Investigators

Abstract

This project investigates how languages express sentences within sentences, such as "He thinks that she left." Of particular interest are words like "that" above, called "complementizers." A great deal of work has been dedicated to the role of a complementizer. What function does a complementizer play in linking together sentences, and to what extent does this function vary across languages? This project expands the general understanding of sentences-within-sentences by focusing on variation within a subfamily of languages. Among these languages, there is a wide range of strategies for embedding a sentence in another sentence, including multiple (sometimes upwards of five) different complementizers in a single language. This project rigorously documents and analyzes the function of these different complementizers via detailed interviews with native speakers, and thereby increases the broader understanding of this complex sentence type. This research adds to the empirical basis for our theorizing about how human language works and develops pedagogical resources for the speaker community. Decades of cross-linguistic work, largely on Indo-European languages, has revealed a number of different factors affecting the relationship between an embedded clause and its associated main clause. Syntactic, semantic, and morphological criteria have all been implicated in determining the clausal embedding strategy. These investigations have resulted in a complex and sometimes inconsistent picture of the syntax and semantics of embedded clauses cross-linguistically. This project addresses these issues by documenting and analyzing variation across closely related languages. Previous descriptive work has revealed significant inter-language, and in some cases, inter-speaker variation. This project focuses on variation as a means to address some of the long-standing puzzles about embedded clauses. It also contributes to diaspora and marginalized language communities, creating pedagogical resources and highlighting some of the communities who speak unofficial "dialects" that have previously received little recognition or documentation. 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.