Transcript The_Joys_of_Linguistics_and_the_Study_of_Inupiaq_Language

The Joys of Linguistics and the
Study of Iñupiaq Language
Barrow Arctic Science Consortium,
15th October 2011,
Signe Rix Berthelin, NTNU, Trondheim
The Joy of Linguistics and the
Study of Iñupiaq Language
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Linguistics, introduction to the sub-diciplines
How these sub-diciplines apply to Iupiaq
MA research on Evidentiality and Modality in Iñupiaq
Questions and comments
About me and my motivation for studying
Iñupiaq
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Signe Rix Berthelin
26 years old
Grew up in Copenhagen, Denmark,
Live and study in Trondheim, Norway since 2006
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Graduate student of Linguistics
Linguistics, Swahili and Anthropology in my BA
MA on Evidentiality and Modality in Iñupiaq
Visiting the Alaska Native Language Center,
University of Alaska, Fairbanks
About me and my motivation for studying
Iñupiaq
• Danish and Norwegian – very similar,
mutually intelligible
• But! Watch out for differences..
Tak,
DK
NO
det var rart
Thank you, that was
Thank you, that was
nice
wierd
About me and my motivation for studying
Iñupiaq
Why Linguistics?
• Love language, especially words and meaning
• Interest from my mother
Why Iñupiaq?
• Conrtribute to an endangered language
• Conrtribute to lively language
• Like the grammar of Iñupiaq
• Interested native cultures of Alaska
Phonetics
Phonology
Pragmatics
Linguistics
Semantics
Morphology
Syntax
Sounds
Phonetics
Phonology
Pragmatics
Linguistics
Semantics
Morphology
Syntax
Sounds
Phonetics
Phonology
Pragmatics
Linguistics
Semantics
Morphology
Syntax
Grammar
Sounds
Phonetics
Phonology
Pragmatics
Meaning
Linguistics
Semantics
Morphology
Syntax
Grammar
Sounds
Phonetics
Phonology
Pragmatics
Linguistics
Semantics
Morphology
Syntax
Phonetics and Phonology
Sounds
• Speech sounds – Phonetics
→ production of speech sounds.
• Systems of speech sounds – Phonology
→ which sounds may be combined in a language?
→ stress, intonation etc.
Phonetics
• vs. spelling
• Spelling is abitrary
ghoti
=
fish
Phonetics
ghoti
gh = f as in rough
=
fish
Phonetics
ghoti
gh = f as in rough
o = i as in women
=
fish
Phonetics
ghoti
gh = f as in rough
o = i as in women
ti = sh as in nation
=
fish
Phonetics
• International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)
fish = [ˈfɪʃ]
nation = [ˈneɪʃən]
Links:
http://www.paulmeier.com/ipa/charts.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Phonetic_Alphabet
Production of
speech sounds
• qimmiq ‘dog’
• candy
Where is the
articulation taking
place?
Production of
speech sounds
• qimmiq
• candy
qimmiq = one dog
qimmik = two dogs
→ /q/ and /k/ are different
phonemes in Iñupiaq
Phoneme = smallest meaning differing
unit.
Phonology
• System of speech sounds
• Languages sound differently
→ they ”allow” different sounds
→ different combinations of sounds
Swahili: mbuzi ‘goat’
English: lamb
Danish: rød ‘red’
English: that
Swahili: maua
Iñupiaq:
mb at the beginning
mb at the end
ð at the end
ð at the beginning
3 vowels
max 2 vowels (insert g)
Phonology
Iñupiaq’s preferred combinations (North Slope)
aġnat + guuq
women + it is said
= aġnatguuq
= it is said that the women
Phonology
Iñupiaq’s preferred combinations (North Slope)
aġnat + guuq
women + it is said
t→r?
= aġnatguuq, aġnarguuq
= it is said that the women
Phonology
aġnat + guuq
women + it is said
= aġnatguuq, aġnarguuq
= it is said that the women
• Assimilation; making the sounds more similar
tg → rg
• In Iñupiaq, stops (p, t, ch, k, q) don’t like being
next to a consonant which is not from this group.
Phonology
Dialectal differences:
Less assimilation
Barrow
qavvik
qimmiq
minŋiq
Kobuk
qapvik
qipmiq
mitŋiq
‘wolverine’
‘dog’
‘jump’
•Other dialects in other villages? Wainwright? Nuiqsut?
•Differences according to age?
•Differences according how you learned Iñupiaq e.g. through
writing vs. spoken?
•How did Iñupiaq sound 100 years ago?
Sounds
Phonetics
Phonology
Pragmatics
Linguistics
Semantics
Morphology
Syntax
Grammar
Morphology and Syntax
Holly destroyed
the flowers.
Morphology and Syntax
How are the words built?
Holly destroyed
-ed = past
the flowers.
s = plural
Morpheme: smallest meaning bearing unit
• destroy
• -ed
• -s
Morphology and Syntax
What are the function of the words?
Holly destroyed
Subject
Verb
the flowers.
Object
• Default word order in English
Morphology and Syntax
Different meaning:
The flowers
Subject
destroyed
Verb
Holly
Object
• Free word order in Iñupiaq:
Simik Stuaqpakmi ittuq
Simik ittuq Stuaqpakmi
*Simik it Stuaqpakmituq
Morphology
How are the words built?
• Iñupiaq
• Swahili
• Chukchi
• German
• English
• Latin
Morphology
How are the words built?
Polysynthetic and aglutinating languages:
• Iñupiaq
• Swahili
• Chukchi
Less synthetic and more flectional languages:
• German
• English
• Latin
Morphology
Iñupiaq
Polysynthetic and agglutinative
Much ”info” in verb
Morphemes ‘glued’ together
kukiullaniaqtuq
kukiu-lla-niaq-tuq
Modality
Dynamic
Time
Person
FUT
3rd
‘he will be able to cook’
Number Mood
SG
IND.
Morphology
English
Less synthetic and more flectional
Less ”info” in verb
He eats pesto.
Time Person Number
Pres. 3rd
Sing.
buy → bought
He bought the flowers.
Time
PAST
Morphology
• Most languages in the world have 4-8 ”pieces of
information in the verb”.
Sounds
Phonetics
Phonology
Pragmatics
Meaning
Linguistics
Semantics
Morphology
Syntax
Grammar
Semantics and Pragmatics
Meaning in language
• Word meaning – Semantics
→ what does the sentence mean?
• Meaning in context – Pragmatics
→ what is communicated by uttering the
sentence
Semantics and Pragmatics
It is okay that I lay an egg here?
Semantics and Pragmatics
It is okay that I lay an egg here?
• Lay an egg (chicken context?)
vs.
• Lay an egg (I’m holding an egg in my hand)
Semantics - ambiguity
Homonymy
Polysemy
• Same name
• Same form, unrelated
meanings
• Multiple meanings
• Same form,
etymologically related
meanings
bear (animal)
bear (carry)
bat (animal)
bat (for striking a ball)
• Look! A bear!
• That’s more than I can
bear.
• Talking about animals
• Talking about a base ball
game
Semantics
German
• Bank – financial institution
• Bank – bench
From Italy: Bench (bank) was the place for
money dealing
Semantics
Lexical Ambiguity
• Homonomy or polysemy?
• Decisions when comliling a dictionary
Dictionary entries:
Polysemy – one entry
Homonymy – two seperate entries
• Related meanings according to history
• Is the relation ‘alive’ today?
Semantics
qau
qau¹ = forehead
qau² = I’m here, I’m present
Polysemy or homonymy?
Semantics
Metaphorical extensions
Frozen metaphos in English:
foot (on a leg)
foot (of the mountain)
neck (body part)
neck (of the bottle)
More?
Semantics
Metaphorical extensions
• Cross linguistical tendency: names for body parts as
source domain for naming other things
• Same tendency in Iñupiaq?
• Other tendencies in Iñupiaq?
qau¹ = forehead
qau² = I’m here, I’m present
→ connection or coinsidence? (Homonymy or
polysemy/metaphorical extension?)
Semantics
Metaphorical extensions
Source domain
Reciever Domain
war vocabulary → argument/discussion vocabulary
Attack
Win/loose
Defend
He attacked my arguments.
I won the discussion.
She lost the argument.
She defended her point of view.
• Similar patterns in Iñupiaq?
Semantics
Structural ambiguity
The Joys of Linguistics and the Study of Iñupiaq Language
Semantics
Meaning 1
The Joys of Linguistics and the Study of Iñupiaq Language
Semantics
Meaning 2:
The Joys of Linguistics and the Study of Iñupiaq Language
• Structural ambiguity in Iñupiaq?
Semantics - Modality
• Meaning of modal and evidential expressions
• What does might mean?
• Meanings of the ”corresponding” word may
differ even in related languages:
Semantics - Modality
Må jeg komme med?
DK
NO
DK
NO
Can I
Must I
come with you?
come with you?
Jeg må
ha’ chokolade
I
I
have chockolate
have chockolate
must
must
→ what does the world have to be like to utter this sentence?
→ in which situation?
→ which communicative purpose?
→ what has the speaker ”experienced”?
Semantics - Modality
Må jeg komme med?
DK
NO
Can I
Must I
Jeg må
DK
NO
I
I
come with you?
come with you?
Asking for permission to come
Asking if obliged to go
ha’ chokolade
must have chockolate
must have chockolate
In need for chockolate
In need for chockolate
→ what does the world have to be like to utter this sentence
→ in which situation
→ which communicative purpose
→ what has the speaker ”experienced”?
Semantics – Modality / Evidentiality in
Iñupiaq
-palliq- / -valliq- = probably?
Aġnat
savakpalliqsut
Aġnat
savak-palliq-sut
woman.pl
work-palliq-3.pl.PRES
The women are probably working
• Speaker doesn’t really know
• Speaker hasn’t seen the working him/herself
• Maybe they are working
Semantics – Modality / Evidentiality in
Iñupiaq
• Evidentiality; grammatical encoding of information
source
There should be a great party on Saturday.
vs. I have heard that there is a great party on Saturday
Iñupiaq:Aġnat savakturguuq.
• Evidential and modal meaning are closely related
• Information source and certainty may often go hand
in hand
Semantics – Modality / Evidentiality in
Iñupiaq
Research goals:
• Overview and detailed descriptions of Iñupiaq
modal/evidential expressions and how to use them –
accessible to learners and teachers of Iñupiaq
• Contribution to the linguistic theories of
evidentiality/modality by analyzing the Iñupiaq modal
expressions and their meanings – MA thesis in
Linguistics
Pragmatics
Implicatures
Susan: I don’t like coffee
= No I do not want to go on a date with you
Pragmatics
Implicatures
Peter: Would you like to have a coffee some time?
Susan: I don’t like coffee
= No I do not want to go on a date with you
Pragmatics
Implicatures
• Knowledge (cultural, social, common etc.) is needed to
understand what is communicated through an
implicature
• Constructed examples and naturally occuring examples
Pragmatics
M: mm.. eeh have you thought about getting a sick note? Do
you think you’ll manage to…
P: I maybe need..
M: yeah
P: ..need ... to.. rest
M: mhm
……………………………………………………………………………….
M: mm yes.. YES, so you’re here today to have your knee
examined
P: yes
M: aaand maybe get a sick note if necessary
Pragmatics
For M to understand that P is communicating that she
thinks she need a sick note through saying I maybe need..
need to rest in this context:
• Implicated premise: P has a job.
• Implicated premise: If you have a job but think you
maybe need to rest, you may need a sick note.
• Implicated conclusion: P thinks he may need a sick note.
→ knowledge of work and rules
Pragmatics
Implicatures in Iñupiaq
• Are some implicatures used only when speaking
Iñupiaq?
• Which knowledge is used to derive and produce
implicatures in an Iñupiaq conversation?
• Which knowledge is taken for granted among the
speakers to such a degree that this knowledge is used to
communicate through implicatures?
• Do speakers of Iñupiaq use different implicatures (draw
on different parts of shared knowledge) when speaking
Iñupiaq than when speaking English?
Linguistics
• Documentation and Description
• Typology (different types, e.g. agglutinating vs. flectional)
• Psycholinguistics (e.g. language aquisition and language
learning)
• Language Contact (how do languages spoken in the same area
affect each other?)
• Language Ecology (how do languages evolve, creoles and
pidgins ”mixed languages”)
• Historical Linguistics (what did Iñupiaq sound like 100 years
ago?)
Quyanaqpak!
Please feel free to contact me if you or your family have any
questions or comments (e.g., further reading, Linguistics,
Scandinavia, suggestions etc.).
[email protected]
[email protected]
References
Borthen, K., S. R. Berthelin, G. Thomassen, forthcoming. Om det uuttalte – det relevansteoretiske
implikaturbegrepet i møte med autentiske data
Brower, , Ronald Aniqsuaq, ESK F111 Elementary Iñupiaq Eskimo, Class attended at University of
Alaska Fairbanks, Fall 2011
Brower, Ronald Aniqsuaq, ESK F211 Intermediate Iñupiaq Eskimo, Class attended at University of
Alaska Fairbanks , Fall 2011
Essberger, J. 1999.
http://www.englishclub.com/esl-articles/199909.htm
Kaplan, L. D., 1978. ‘Consonant Assimilation in Inupiaq Eskimo’, in Proceedings of the 4th Annual
Meeting of the Berkeley Linguistics
Society, pp. 352-35
Lakoff, George and Mark Johnson, 1980. Metaphors we live by. Chicago : University of Chicago Press
Lyons, J., 1995. Linguistic Semantics. Cambridge University Press
MacLean, E. A., 1986. North Slope Iñupiaq Grammar: First Year. 3rd Edition, Alaska Native Language
Center, College of Liberal Arts, University of Alaska Fairbanks
Ullmann, S., 1963/1966. ‘Semantic universals’. In Joseph H. Greenberg, ed., Universals of Language
(Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press), pp. 217-262