Linguistics Paper Assignment Help-The Tarascan and Karbadian Languages
Question preps
Comprehension check and a way to motivate discussion in class
Digging up a problem for a potential squib!
Squibs – what are they?
Content: a squib is
the presentation of a problem that bears on some point of description or theory, or
the presentation of a data that has not been previously described, or that adds to or challenges a previous description
a way to get you to start thinking critically and independently as a linguist
often the first step into a larger project
an excellent way to get familiar with a type of writing that is done in our field (linguistics)
A squib is not
a complete analysis of the data, nor does it necessarily provide a solution to the problem presented (although it may outline one)
a term paper
full length research paper
Format: two or three pages (single spaced), with references
Tips:
Use your question preps!
Look for data in other languages on the topics we are discussing i uploaded 3 important files shows guidelines for writing files.
Go on a ‘fishing expedition’: our library is full of language grammars (see Victoria’s pic in the Discussions for where to find these in the library), many of them are ‘old’ and full of primary language data that has not been looked at through contemporary lens.
Cite sources more carefully (including where you got you examples from)
Be clear about what you contributed (i.e. tables and examples)
Resist the urge to make it reflectional or personal…
Choose one of the topics where it says order instructions and talk about it. Follow the instructions carefully and closely.
Here are the important squib guidelines:
Basic objectives
To learn to summarize your findings (in this case one of your squibs) and present them in a succinct and effective way (sometimes harder to do than it may seem…)
To get a feel for giving a short presentation in linguistics (a thing we do at many conferences)
To get a feel for public presenting in general… (a useful life skill)
Content (rubric)
Key ingredients for a successful and effective presentation (roughly in this order):
A few opening sentences about your topic
Remember what squibs are about – be sure to tell us:
a question about some ‘new’ data that bears on something you’ve learned about (i.e. including but not limited to ergativity, causatives, evidentials, etc.)
a possible problem regarding something you’ve learned about (i.e. including but not limited to ergativity, causatives, evidentials, etc.)
One or two examples that show us what you’re examining/analyzing
Some thoughts about how you might approach this, perhaps by presenting a hypothesis or constructing an example sentence that would test or even answer your question(s) – remember I talked extensively about how this plays out with Gitksan causatives
Remember: you do not need to provide an analysis or solution!
Here are information on the languages challenges: A Grammar of the Kabardian Language
Kabardian is a polysynthetic language, which means you’ll need five lightsabers to slice through its dauntingly complex morphology. The upside is that Colarusso does have a section on causatives, but little description. Can elaborate on his descriptions based on what you learned about morphological causatives in Gitksan?
A Grammar of Diegueño:There is a VERY brief description of a morpheme that looks like a causative around page 110. What would these ‘uncausativized’ stem look like? Like you did in the first squib (if you chose this language), if you can’t find the sentences you need, use the data that is there to construct sentences in the language that you would as a speaker of Diegueño (much like you did on the problem sets).
The Tarascan Language: There is a section on causatives starting on page 172. It’s tricky to make your way through the data (because the author has her own system for referring to data elsewhere in the grammar). I suggest trying to ‘update’ the description based on what we’ve learned. There is ALOT of data here, and direct and indirect causatives mixed together in these sections. Can you spot any patterns with regards to unergative verbs (intransitives with an external actor-like subject)? Chemehuevi – A Grammar and Lexicon:Chemehuevi is pretty challenging, but the author does describe what looks like morphological causatives in a few places. You need to hunt them down! Just pay attention to the kinds of descriptions we learned about in our lectures and working on the Gitksan problem sets, paying special attention to any morpheme that appears to increase the valency of a clause. The author also mentions an intransitivizer. What do you think this does? Perhaps lower valency? As with most of these grammars, start by looking in the table of contents for clues…
