NWT RESEARCH DATABASE

Regions: North Slave Region

Tags: social sciences, aboriginal language, Dogrib, linguistics

Objective(s): To discover whether the difference between permanent properties of individuals (individual-level predicates), and temporary, limited ones (stage-level predicates) comes from lexical meaning or syntactic structure.

Project Description: The grammar of Tlicho Yatii encodes a difference between permanent properties of individuals (individual-level predicates), and temporary, limited ones (stage-level predicates). This project seeks to discover whether this difference comes from lexical meaning or syntactic structure. If the latter, the principal researcher expects that sentences with stage-level predicates such as 'Michel has a cold' would differ grammatically in Tlicho Yatii from sentences with individual-level predicates such as 'Michel has brown eyes'. The hypothesis is that the difference between predicate types is encoded by the presence or absence of a light verb, which makes a predicate more dynamic, volitional or transient. The fieldwork will take place in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, and in the communities of the Tlicho Government: Behchokö` (formerly known as Rae-Edzo), Whatì, Gamètì and Wekw’eetì. The principal researcher will work with native speakers of the language to translate Tlicho Yatii sentences to English and vice versa, as well as asking consultants for judgments on the grammatical acceptability of those sentences. This methodology is standard in the fields of language documentation and descriptive linguistics. The researcher intends to work with 1-3 native speakers, fluent in both Tlicho Yatii and English. The total time spent in interviews will be 20 hours, with individual sessions not exceeding 2 hours. The three prospective participants are all experienced translators and interpreters who have extensive experience as linguistic consultants. Recruiting of more participants is not anticipated. This research will require working with 1-3 fluent speakers of Tlicho Yatii. The likely benefit to the participants is the knowledge that a better understanding of Tlicho Yatii grammar will be useful in efforts to preserve this endangered language. The findings from this project will be shared with the Tlicho Community Services Agency's Language and Culture Centre, as a resource for language revitalization efforts. The preservation of linguistic diversity is recognized as an important issue for society in general as well, and is an honorable undertaking for all who participate. A copy of the findings from this study will be given to the Tlicho Community Services Agency's Language and Culture Centre, as will copies of any publications that result from the findings. The fieldwork for this study will be conducted from May 3, 2013 to August 15, 2013.