| NSF Org: |
BCS Division of Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | April 26, 2018 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | August 29, 2024 |
| Award Number: | 1760980 |
| Award Instrument: | Continuing Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Wilson De Lima Silva
widelima@nsf.gov (703)292-7096 BCS Division of Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences SBE Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences |
| Start Date: | June 1, 2018 |
| End Date: | September 30, 2024 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $196,229.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $196,229.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
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| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
70 WASHINGTON SQ S NEW YORK NY US 10012-1019 (212)998-2121 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
10 Washington Place New York NY US 10003-6604 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): |
RSCH EXPER FOR UNDERGRAD SITES, DEL |
| Primary Program Source: |
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| Program Reference Code(s): |
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| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.075 |
ABSTRACT
Click sounds are some of the most complex and difficult to produce sounds of all the languages of the world. Most scientific research on the Khoisan languages (the non-Bantu click languages of Africa), has focused on their sound systems because this complexity illuminates cognitive patterns and physiological mechanisms relevant for human language. However, because far less attention has been paid to their grammatical systems, Khoisan languages have had little or no impact on current syntactic theories. To achieve a deeper scientific knowledge of the Khoisan languages, this project will study morphosyntactic aspects of two completely undescribed languages: Cua and Tshila (classified as central Khoisan or Khoe-Kwadi languages). Such data sets will also clarify the linguistic classification of the central Khoisan languages, and their historical connections to other Khoisan languages. The project's training component will bring advanced undergraduates and beginning graduate students to Botswana for hands-on training in linguistic research on the Khoisan languages. This will increase the number of researchers working on the highly endangered Khoisan languages while simultaneously increasing scientific knowledge about the linguistic properties possessed by these languages. The team will work closely with the language communities in developing materials and resources, of value to the communities and in educating participating students about broader impacts and community-academic collaborations. Also, because the U.S. State Department notes the importance of Botswana as a partner and as a model of stability in Africa, the national interest is served by strengthening on the ground connections and partnerships with the country and enhancing an international collaboration with the University of Botswana.
The project will investigate the unique syntactic and morphological structures of Cua and Tshila, important for theoretical and typological syntactic work. For example, the grammatical sketch will cover the complex system of pronouns. English has handful of pronouns. In subject position, these are: I, you (singular and plural), he, she, we, they. Central Khoisan languages have far more pronouns. Kua (a related Khoisan language) has 31 subject pronouns (factoring in person, number, gender). The same morphological features that characterize pronouns also characterize the person-gender-number (PGN) markers found on noun phrases. For example, in Kua χam=ǁoe includes two morpheme and is glossed "lion=3MPS"; it means "male lions". The clitic (ǁoe) encodes both the notion of plurality (more than two) and masculine reference. Understanding the structure of pronouns and PGN markers and how they vary across the Kalahari Khoe languages is one of the central scientific goals of the project. The project will result in a dictionary, linguistically annotated recordings of texts, literacy resources, and a grammatical sketch, as well as disseminating results in journal articles. The project will also help to document the rich cultural heritage of Botswana, and southern Africa more generally. All the documentation and related materials will be archived in a public digital collection at ELAR, the Endangered Language Archive.
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.
PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
Doing fieldwork in rural Botswana on the Khoisan languages presents a very steep learning curve. As a result, there are very few researchers from American universities working on the unique and fascinating Khoisan languages. The purpose of this grant was to bring students to Botswana as part of a project to document two undescribed Kalahari Khoe languages: Cua and Tshila.
During the duration of the grant, we made a total of seven expeditions to villages speaking Cua and Tshila. A total of six students (2 females, 4 males) accompanied the Principal Investigator on these expeditions. One of those students plans to write their thesis on the collected materials. Two of the students are strongly committed to returning in the future and continuing their fieldwork on a long-term basis.
The materials that we produced during this research period include: sound files, photos, videos, transcribed oral texts, dictionaries, and a grammatical sketch of Cua. These materials can now form the basis for the development of orthographies for Cua and Tshila, and for the development of pedagogical materials, such as a spelling primer. As a result, there was great enthusiasm in both of the communities for our work.
Our documentation project has resulted in a far better understanding of the classification of the Kalahari Khoe languages of Botswana. Based on our research, it is clear that there is a dialect chain comprising G||ana, Tshila and Cua, which can be labeled ‘Southern Kalahari Khoe’. The relationship between these languages was explored in several papers written by the project participants. Furthermore, the results of our project will be essential to understanding historical contact scenarios between the Kalahari Khoe languages and other Khoisan languages spoken nearby, including Sasi.
The project has greatly contributed to an understanding of the syntactic structures of the Kalahari Khoe languages, including the syntax of pronouns and the verbal system. These topics are discussed extensively in the grammatical sketch of Cua. The grammatical sketch and other papers resulting from the project will be of use to researchers interested in the languages of southern Africa.
Last Modified: 10/01/2024
Modified by: Christopher T Collins
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