LINGUIST List 22.2911 Sat Jul 16 2011 Diss: Disc Analysis/Morphology: Berez: 'Discourse, Landscape, and ...' Editor for this issue: Mfon Udoinyang <mfonlinguistlist.org> To post to LINGUIST, use our convenient web form at http://linguistlist.org/LL/posttolinguist.cfm. Directory         1.     Andrea Berez , Discourse, Landscape, and Directional Reference in Ahtna Message 1: Discourse, Landscape, and Directional Reference in Ahtna Date: 16-Jul-2011 From: Andrea Berez <andrea.berezgmail.com> Subject: Discourse, Landscape, and Directional Reference in Ahtna E-mail this message to a friend Institution: University of California, Santa Barbara Program: Linguistics Department Dissertation Status: Completed Degree Date: 2011 Author: Andrea L. Berez Dissertation Title: Discourse, Landscape, and Directional Reference in Ahtna Linguistic Field(s): Discourse Analysis                             Morphology Subject Language(s): Ahtena (aht) Dissertation Director: Sandra A. Thompson James Kari Patricia Clancy Marianne Mithun Dissertation Abstract: This dissertation examines one corner of the grammar of the Ahtna Athabaskan language of Alaska: the use and semantics of the lexical class of directionals. In particular, this dissertation looks at how Ahtna speakers use directionals in spontaneous discourse and elicitation against the backdrop of the physiography of Ahtna territory. The semantics of the directional system is traditionally riverine, meaning that the orientation of the local river determines which directional term speakers choose. Talk about direction and location of referents in the natural landscape is common among Ahtna speakers: Ahtna people are traditionally seminomadic, and verbally displaying one's knowledge of overland travel through Ahtna territory has a special place in culture and society. Among the linguistic resources available for describing concepts like path and location are the directionals, the use of which is a direct reflection of a speaker's familiarity with the geography of the region he or she is describing. Awareness of the local ecology is thus not only central to Ahtna cultural practices, but also potentially influences the development of the grammar over time. This dissertation is concerned with the relationship between language change over time and the use of the directionals in discourse and elicitation. The first section examines the recent changes in the semantics and usage of the directionals because of language contact. Using data from my fieldwork, I show that the nearly constant contact of Ahtna with the dominant English language is causing a shift in the semantics of the directionals, such that they now refer less to the orientation of the local river, and more to the cardinal directions found in English. The second section looks at language change from a purely language-internal point of view. Using data from a previous generation of Ahtna speakers, it discusses how the complex morphology of directionals is lexicalizing over time, leading to a loss of semantic clarity that speakers are compensating for via other resources in the discourse structure. Central to the discussion is the topography of the landscape itself. To that end, geographic information systems technology plays a large role in the data presented here. Read more issues|LINGUIST home page|Top of issue Page Updated: 16-Jul-2011       About LINGUIST    |   Contact Us       While the LINGUIST List makes every effort to ensure the linguistic relevance of sites listed on its pages, it cannot vouch for their contents.