1 PROJECT DESCRIPTION 1. Results From Prior NSF Support NSF support within the past five years consists of three grants: (1) Dissertation grant SBR-9634752, $10,100, Sept 1996-Dec 1997, with Alejandra Vidal, for “Pilaga Grammar and Texts”, resulting in Vidal (2001). (2) Conference grant SBR-9616482, $38,500, Feb 1997-Jan 1999, “International Conference on External Possession and Related Noun Incorporation Phenomena, Eugene, Oregon, Sept 7-10, 1997.” This resulted in publication of 20 scholarly papers (Payne & Barshi, eds., 1999), covering external possession in Australia, Asia, the Pacific, North America, Meso-America, South America, Europe, and Africa; (3) SBR- 9809387, $244,000, Sept 1998 - present, “Maa (Maasai) Lexicography and Text Databases”, for which the current supplement is being requested. Research results of the current grant are listed below. 1.1 Summary of results to-date, and description of databases. Five distinct Maa databases are under development by the PI and research team. A Maa lexicography database, developed using Shoebox 5.0, now contains some 4,200 primary entries and hundreds of additional sub-entries. Each entry includes fields for the “head” synchronic root or stem in accurate phonological form; the root (for facilitating cross-language historical work); a phonologically accurate citation word form; a Swahili-based orthography form (which most literate native and non-native speakers of Maa would use, but which lacks tone and certain vowel contrasts); dialect variants specifying dialect; case and number forms for nouns and adjectives; sense definitions; illustrative examples demonstrating senses and morphosyntactic facts; semantic domain(s) of the head root/stem; encyclopedic information; etymological information; morpheme breakdown where the head stem form is not morphologically transparent; argument structure and lexical aspect type for verbs; sources of information (speakers, texts, written documents); and identification of data-entry personnel. The core of the lexicography database is built around IlKeekonyokie (Central Kenyan) Maa, which closely matches data in Tucker & Mpaayei (1955). Additional Central Maa data come from IlPurko of Kajiado. Extensive data from one Samburu (North Maa) dialect have been collected and entered in the database. Less, but significant, data comes from Kisongo (South Tanzanian) Maa. A small amount of data represents IlWuasinkishu (Western Kenyan) Maa. Records include data from Vossen (1988), entered in distinct fields from data collected under the current grant, as it is sometimes difficult to know when form differences owe to variation in dialect versus transcription. A text database now contains 61 texts of varying genres, lengths, and stages of analysis. Texts are from IlKeekonyokie, IlPurko of Kajiado, and Laikipia (North Maa) areas. All have been transcribed, checked for tone and tongue root quality, and divided into native speaker’s judgments of “sentence” units (often including more than one clause). So far about two-thirds have free English translations, provided by a linguistically- trained native speaker. About one-third have been parsed using Shoebox 5.0’s interlinearizing function. An allomorph database has been developed to aid in text parsing. As the degree of Maa tone, tongue root, and other morphophonemic changes is extensive, the decision has been made to include only suppletive or highly irregular allomorphs in the lexicography database. At some point the allomorph database will be a significant resource for thorough phonological analysis of Maa. In addition, the PI has developed a verb database, containing information about inflectional and derivational possibilities, semantic argument structure, and selectional restrictions for some 260 verb roots. The PI and graduate students have developed a clause database of some 3,750 records, focusing on verb forms. This could also be termed a verb tone database, as it documents carefully checked tone (via whistling) for both complex and simple verb forms. Many records have been tagged for all morphemes contained in the principle verb, so complex searches can be performed to select various sets of data for tone (or other) analysis. Educational web pages have been developed under the project, oriented to the general public and also useful for class assignments (http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~dlpayne/maasai/ madict.htm). These address basic aspects of linguistics including African language families, cultural and historical relevance of linguistic analysis, significant features of Maa phonology, word structure, syntax, semantics, and language contact. 1.2 Work in progress. In addition to ongoing database work, a field trip by the PI is planned to Kenya for 2001 to work with Kenyan collaborators. Plans are to (1) focus on Western IlWuasinkishu Maa and/or to further complete IlPurko and Samburu Maa, (2) ensure complete transcription and translation of the texts so that researchers can proceed with analytical text-based work, and (3) collect Samburu and Kisongo or 2 IlWuasinkishu texts. Work is in progress, in collaboration with students, on Maa verb types, argument structure, and voice; parts of speech (nouns, relational nouns, adjectives, stative verbs, active verbs); color terms, human propensity concepts, and other semantic domains; the phonetics of tongue root advancement and retraction in Maa vowels; and tone. 1.3 Grant support has contributed to development of human resources via training two undergraduates in linguistic database work, one undergraduate in beginning acoustic analysis of vowel qualities and some field methods, and three graduate students in field methods (working with a native Maa speaker in Oregon, who has now left). A fourth graduate student received extensive field experience in Kenya and is now working on verb tone for an MA thesis. A fifth evaluated and added information to the lexicography database from already-published sources. Formal graduate linguistic course work has been provided for native speaker Leonard Kotikash, who has worked with the PI since 1994. This training has enabled Kotikash to work independently with monolingual speakers from new dialects. Informal but substantive linguistic training and practical job skills have been provided for two more Maa speakers (one man with a B.A., and one woman with secondary education), who have worked steadily in the past two years on tone and text transcription, development of illustrative lexicography examples, and sense documentation. 1.4 Publications and manuscripts supported to date by the current grant are Bush (1999), Kotikash (2000), Payne (1998, 2001), Rasmussen & Payne (submitted), Schneider (1998). Together, these address issues in acoustic phonetics, tone, morphology, syntax, and semantics. 2. Objectives of the Supplement The current proposal seeks support to develop a network of Nilotic research scholars via a series of four structured linguistic workshops (described in section 4), spread across two years. The network will provide a supportive and stimulating community for Nilotic researchers with the general goals of enhancing quantity and quality of individual research projects and collaborative cross-family work. The workshops have the following over-arching objectives (in addition to serving as a venue for reporting results of the PI’s Maa work to other Nilotic experts). Other steering committee members (section 5) have enthusiastically offered to seek Canadian and German funding for participants from those countries, so there is high liklihood of achieving the following objectives on an international scale: 1. Establish ongoing relationships among researchers, both within and across branches of the family, such that collaboration will extend beyond the life of the initiating workshops. 2. Communicate what has been done and what is in-process on lexicography and lexical semantics, phonology, and morphosyntax of Nilotic languages. 3. Stimulate in-depth work on individual languages, with focus on features of particular salience in the family (see workshop details below). Though theoretical concerns properly emerge, given that documentation of many Nilotic languages is still scanty, the primary objective here is to improve documentation and deepen descriptive and typological knowledge of patterns in Nilotic languages. 4. Increase awareness and understanding of what standardization may be advisable in Nilotic database development, in line with current “best practices”, so as to facilitate later development of cross-family (perhaps web-implemented) searchable databases for the Nilotic family. 5. Initiate a pilot project coordinating two to three lexicographic databases which are already well- advanced; communicate what is learned about the process and pitfalls to other members of the network. 6. Develop a scientifically sound, educationally rich web site for the Nilotic language family, accessible to the general public. 3. Significance and Current State of Research on Nilotic Languages The Nilotic language family extends through Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Sudan, and into Ethiopia and Congo. There are some 29 to 53 languages, depending on complex issues surrounding degrees of mutual intelligibility and ethnic self-identity. Demographically, Nilotic is the dominant language family in the East African region after Bantu. Unity of the family was first recognized by Koehler (1955) and popularized by Greenberg (1971), and divides into three branches known as “Western”, “Eastern”, and “Southern” (terms apply to genetic groupings,