Researching Morphophonology & Syntax

After a particular word category or morpheme has been marked in 1 or more texts, the team should proceed with further investigation of the element being marked. This may include marking tone, eliciting a paradigm, researching the meaning of a certain morpheme/particle, and/or identifiying sound changes that occur at morpheme boundaries. Frames are especially helpful for this stage of the research, as they are the best tool for analyzing sound changes at morpheme boundaries. Frames can also be used to test word categories and elicit paradigms. 

Using Frames for Language Research

A frame is a phrase or clause where one word is replaced with another word of the same word category. In RGC, frames are taken from the texts that were provided for the workshop. Using clauses and phrases from a text offers the following advantages:

1. There is no need to try to elicit a particular morpheme in its correct grammatical context. 

2. A clause from a text may be more natural than an elicited frame. 

3. The context provided by the story helps clarify the meaning of the frame.

Although it may be necessary to change some words in the phrase/clause to make it more usable with substitutions, it is not recommended to change the grammatical structure of the original sentence or to make more changes than are absolutely necessary. If the frame is changed dramatically from the text, it may make it difficult for participants to conceptualize the meaning associated with the frame. 

Researching Morphology

It is generally only needed to investigate the morphemes (and their allomorphs) that occur in the texts, since the texts will contain the majority of the language's morphemes. Collectively, the texts should provide sufficient data for identifying the types of changes that occur at morpheme boundaries and deciding a tentative writing system. In the unlikely situation that a morpheme missed in the first workshop requires a change in spelling rules, the rules can still be revised without too much difficulty in the next few years. For these reasons, it is recommended to focus efforts on researching the morphemes found in the texts rather than looking for morphemes that may or may not exist.

The sections below further describe ways nouns, verbs and other word categories are researched during an RGC workshop.

Researching Nouns

After nouns have been marked in the 1 or more texts, the team should investigate a) nominal possession, b) compound nouns, c) derived nouns, d) morphemes that bind to nouns, and e) tone melodies in the context of frames. Guides for each of these topics are provided below. 

Materials Needed

• Whiteboard + colored markers (at least 4 colors)

• Printed copies of each text for every participant + colored pencils

• Notebooks + regular pencils for every participant 

• Facilitator's list of nominal possession and related frames

• Facilitator's list of compound nouns & derived nouns

• Facilitator's selected frames for nouns & list of representative nouns

Instructions

Nominal Possession

On the whiteboard, write the examples of nominal possession you identified during the preparation stage. Also write up the frames you selected for each type of possession. Read and discuss each example in context of the story. Then check different nouns to see which construction pattern they fit. For languages with substantial dialect differences, use a different frame and an appropriate set of representative words for each dialect. 

Compound & Derived Nouns

Write a list of compound nouns on the board and record the meaning of the individual roots. Compare the structure of compound nouns with that of nominal posession, then decide spelling rules. Next, write a list of derived nouns on the board. Record the meaing of each word and determine spelling rules, as needed. 

Bound Morphemes (with nouns)

On the board, write the noun frames that you selected during the preparation stage, along with your list of representative words. Read every frame aloud with each representative word, noting tone and any sound changes that occur. Discuss the environments for all predictable patterns and decide simple spelling rules that will handle the sound changes discovered. 

Tone (Nouns in Frames)

Before the session, choose representative nouns and noun frames to use for researching tone. Then have a participant read each representative noun in the context of every frame. As these are read aloud, mark the surface tone of the noun. Document the results, including all predictable patterns. 

Researching Verbs

After marking the verbs and verbal morphemes that occur in the texts, the team should begin identifying a) as many of the existing TAM forms as possible, b) the function of any other types of morphemes (or clitics) that bind to verbs, c) the structure of compound verbs and d) the structure of derived verbs. Guides on these topics are posted below. 

If the langauge has little or no bound morphemes, the team should focus this on time researching the syntax of common particles and their different functions. (See Session Guide: Researching Isolating Languages)

Overview: Identifying Verb Forms & TAM Markers

Materials Needed

• Facilitator's "Verb Use" Chart

• Facilitator's list of compound & derived verbs

• Facilitator's selected frames for verbs + lists of representative verbs

• Whiteboard + colored markers (at least 4 colors)

• Printed copies of each text for every participant + colored pencils

• Notebooks + regular pencils for every participant 

Instructions*

Identifying TAM Markers 

Write your “Intransitive Verbs” and “Transitive Verbs” charts on the whiteboard. Have participants read sentences from the text that have different verbs but the same verb form (TAM). Mark each verb, discussing its use and meaning in the context of the sentence. Then label this verb form’s TAM use. Repeat the process until all of the language’s TAM forms have been discussed and labeled. Review the charts on the board and edit, as needed. Then mark the tone of the verb in each sentence. Finally, create a paradigm for the common TAM forms that exist in the language. 

Researching Other Bound Morphemes (not related to TAM)

Write your selected verb frames selected on the board, along with your list of representative verbs. Read every frame aloud with each representative verb. Using the guide below, discuss any sound changes that occur and the environments for all predictable patterns. Also discuss how the presence of the morpheme affects the meaning of the verb and/or sentence, then label the morpheme. Mark the surface tone of each word in the context of every frame. Finally, as much as possible, decide simple spelling rules that will handle all the sound changes discovered. 

Compound & Derived Verbs

Write a list of compound verbs on the board and record the meaning of the individual roots. Decide spelling rules. Repeat the same general process for derived verbs. 

*When working with a language that has little or no bound morphemes, focus on researching particles and syntax, using the guide for isolaing languages below. 

Researching Other Word Categories

After a particular word category has been in 1 or more texts (for example, adjectives, locatives, pronouns, etc.), team should take time to study the word category in more detail. This includes listing the words that belong to that category, determining where these words can be used in the sentence and researching any sound changes that occur. 

Guides are included below for researching adpositions/locatives, pronouns, adjectives and demonstratives/indefinite pronouns. 

Overview: Researching Other Word Categories

Materials Needed

• Facilitator’s word lists and frames for adpositions/locatives, pronouns, adjectives, demonstratives/indefinite pronouns & any other relavent word categories

• Printed, unmarked copies of each text for every participant

• Set of colored pencils for each participant

• Whiteboard + colored markers (at least 4 colors)

• Notebooks for all staff & participants

• Regular pencils + erasers

Instructions

While specific instructions vary slightly based on the particular category being researched, the basic steps include the following:

1. On the board, write a list of example words and frames for the word category, using the notes you prepared in the preparation stage. 

2.  Substitute representative words into the frame(s) and note any sound changes. 

3.  Chart paradigms (as applicable) and fill in any missing  words. 

4.  If the langauge is tonal, re-read each frame with words from a representative word list and mark the tone of the clause/phrase.

5. Decide rules for spelling/word-breaks that will adress all relevant sound changes. 

More detailed instructions for specific categories are listed below. While the order of research is somewhat flexible, at least 1 or more adpositions should be determined before researching pronouns, so that the team can identify the pronouns that function as an object of an adposition. Also, attributive clauses (see Adjectives &Attributive Clauses) are best researched after the full paradigm of subject pronouns has been identified. 

Researching Clauses

After marking relative/complement clauses in the text, the team should spend time researching a) the words that introduce these clauses, b) which constituents of a clause can be relativized and c) agreement marking with the head noun. 

A guide for researching these types of clauses is posted below. 

Overview: Relative & Complement Clauses

Materials Needed

• Printed, unmarked copies of each text for every participant

• Set of colored pencils for each participant

• Whiteboard + colored markers (at least 4 colors)

• Notebooks for all staff & participants

• Regular pencils + erasers

Instructions

1. On the board, test for all possible word categories and phrases that may be introduced in a complement clause. For each word category/phrase that is possible (and considered grammatically correct), mark the tone of the introduced word/phrase.

2. Discover which constituents of the clause can be relativized. Test all possible functions on the board. For each possible function, mark the tone. 

3. Research all agreement possibilities for complement/relative clauses with the head noun. List and check all potential ways of marking such agreement. Mark the tone of all possible (and grammatically correct) agreement possibilities.