Study on polysynthesis in Nuuchahnulth

• Project/Area Number: 24520420
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Linguistics
• Research Institution: Tokyo University of Foreign Studies
• Principal Investigator: NAKAYAMA Toshihide 東京外国語大学, アジア・アフリカ言語文化研究所, 教授 (70334448)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): NAKAYAMA Kumiko 東京外国語大学, アジア・アフリカ言語文化研究所, 研究員 (40401426)
• Project Period (FY): 2012-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Project Status: Completed (Fiscal Year 2014)
• Budget Amount: ¥4,940,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,800,000、Indirect Cost: ¥1,140,000); Fiscal Year 2014: ¥1,560,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,200,000、Indirect Cost: ¥360,000); Fiscal Year 2013: ¥1,560,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,200,000、Indirect Cost: ¥360,000); Fiscal Year 2012: ¥1,820,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,400,000、Indirect Cost: ¥420,000)
• Keywords: 複統合性 / 形態論 / ヌートカ語 / 危機言語 / 類型論 / カナダ / 形態法 / ワカシュ諸語 / 国際調査 / 形態統語法 / ワカシュ語族 / 記述言語学 / 北米先住民

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The goal of this project was to examine the nature of morphological complexity in Nuuchahnulth (Wakashan: British Columbia, Canada) in hope of making contribution to understanding of the diversity of polysynthesis. As made clear in some recent studies, there is a great degree of variation among ‘polysynthetic languages’ in terms of the kind and degree of morphological complexity. Nuuchahnulth represents a rather unusual type that relies almost exclusively on affixation of suffixes with rich semantic contents (lexical suffixes).
In this project, polysynthesis in Nuuchahnulth was examined in detail, using databases of natural discourse data and lexicon, from two perspectives: (1) the range of combination and configuration (both structural and semantic) of lexical suffixes that is allowed in a word; (2) distribution and functions of polysynthetic words in discourse.

Research Products

• [Journal Article] Polysynthesis in Nuuchahnulth, a Wakashan language (2016)
  • Author(s): Nakayama, Toshihide
  • Journal Title: Michael Fortescue, Marianne Mithun, and Nicholas Evans (eds.), Handbook of Polysynthesis. Oxford University Press Volume: 1
• [Journal Article] 負ける体験としてのフィールドワーク (2014)
  • Author(s): 中山俊秀
  • Journal Title: 西井凉子編『人はみなフィールドワーカーである：人文学のフィールドワークのすすめ』東京外国語大学出版会 Volume: 1 Pages: 36-55
• [Journal Article] Nuuchahnulth (Nootka) (2014)
  • Author(s): Nakayama, Toshihide
  • Journal Title: In: Genetti, Carol, How Languages Work, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press. Volume: 1 Pages: 441-462
• [Presentation] 言語構造の柔らかさはどこからくるか：「語」というドメインを中心に (2015)
  • Author(s): 中山俊秀
  • Organizer: 学術交流研究シンポジウム「やりとりの言語学：場から生まれることば」
  • Place of Presentation: 日本女子大学
  • Year and Date: 2015-03-26
  • Invited
• [Presentation] An exploration of grammatical tightness: some observations from Nuuchahnulth narrative data (2014)
  • Author(s): Nakayama, Toshihide
  • Organizer: International Workshop on Tight and Loose Grammar
  • Place of Presentation: 東京外国語大学
  • Year and Date: 2014-11-29 – 2014-11-30
• [Presentation] 文法とコミュニケーションの怪しい体系性：ありのままの言語研究の挑戦 (2014)
  • Author(s): 中山俊秀
  • Organizer: 東京外国語大学アジア・アフリカ言語文化研究所AA研創立50周年記念シンポジウム
  • Place of Presentation: 一橋講堂
  • Year and Date: 2014-10-24
• [Presentation] Rethinking the notion of ‘units’ in linguistic description and theory (2014)
  • Author(s): Nakayama, Toshihide
  • Organizer: Workshop on Intransitivizing Morphology in Japanese Dialects
  • Place of Presentation: 九州大学
  • Year and Date: 2014-10-11
  • Invited
• [Presentation] 言語使用の中で文法を考える：言語の構造的単位に注目して (2014)
  • Author(s): 中山俊秀
  • Organizer: 九州大学言語学研究会
  • Place of Presentation: 九州大学
  • Year and Date: 2014-10-10
• [Presentation] Toward an Organic View of Unit (2014)
  • Author(s): Nakayama, Toshihide; Nakayama, Kumiko
  • Organizer: Helsinki Symposium on Matches and Mismatches of Units in Interaction
  • Place of Presentation: University of Helsinki
  • Year and Date: 2014-09-11 – 2014-09-12
• [Presentation] Toward Understanding Grammar through Conversation (2014)
  • Author(s): Nakayama, Toshihide
  • Organizer: Annual Meeting of the Linguistic Society of America
  • Place of Presentation: Minneapolis, MN, USA
• [Presentation] he role of polysynthesis in Nuuchahnulth morphosyntactic structure (2014)
  • Author(s): Nakayama, Toshihide
  • Organizer: International Symposium on Polysynthesis in the World’s Languages
  • Place of Presentation: National Institute for Japanese Language and Linguistics, Tokyo
• [Presentation] Problems of ‘units’ in describing Nuuchahnulth syntax (2013)
  • Author(s): Nakayama, Toshihide
  • Organizer: International Workshop on Linguistic and Interactional Units in Everyday Speech: Cross-Linguistic Perspective
  • Place of Presentation: University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
• [Presentation] 生きている言語を捉える挑戦：言語研究のパラダイム転換に向けて
  • Author(s): 中山俊秀
  • Organizer: 第9回知の拠点セミナー
  • Place of Presentation: 京都大学東京オフィス
  • Invited
• [Presentation] Issues on 'units' in language communication and linguistic structure
  • Author(s): 中山俊秀
  • Organizer: 話し言葉の言語学ワークショップ第5回研究会
  • Place of Presentation: 東京外国語大学アジア・アフリカ言語文化研究所
• [Presentation] Problems of units in descriptive linguistics
  • Author(s): 中山俊秀
  • Organizer: 話し言葉の言語学ワークショップ第5回研究会
  • Place of Presentation: 東京外国語大学アジア・アフリカ言語文化研究所
• [Presentation] 言語の単位について考える
  • Author(s): 中山俊秀
  • Organizer: AA研フォーラム
  • Place of Presentation: 東京外国語大学アジア・アフリカ言語文化研究所
• [Presentation] Language documentation when the community is not 'in the mood'
  • Author(s): 中山俊秀、大野剛
  • Organizer: Third International Conference on Language Documentation and Conservation
  • Place of Presentation: University of Hawai'i, Manoa
• [Book] The Art and Practice of Grammar Writing (2014)
  • Author(s): Nakayama, Toshihide; Rice, Keren (eds.)
  • Total Pages: 157
  • Publisher: University of Hawai'i Press
• [Book] Grammatical Sketches from the Field 2 (2014)
  • Author(s): Nakayama, Toshihide; Yoshioka, Noboru; Otsuka, Kosei (eds.)
  • Total Pages: 178
  • Publisher: ILCAA, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies