ABSTRACT The project is an investigation of the syntax of Omaha- Ponka, a Siouan language spoken in Nebraska. Methods used will include field work with several Omaha speaking consultants and analysis of previously recorded texts. The project will employ one research assistant who is a native speaker of the language. As the initial step toward a planned study of Omaha-Ponka relative clauses and interrogatives within the framework of Government-Binding theory, the present project will survey and describe the major syntactic constructions of Omaha-Ponka, particularly including various types of nominalizations and topic or focus constructions. The project has value as an application of Government- Binding theory to a language very different from the European and Oriental languages that have received the most attention under this framework. It has practical significance as well, since the language has not been adequately described, and only elderly speakers remain. Very little scholarly work, all phonologically or morphologically oriented, has been done on Omaha-Ponka; the syntax is essentially unexplored. Indeed, little is known of the syntax of Siouan languages in general. The collection and description of syntactic data on Omaha-Ponka in itself constitutes a valuable contribution to linguistic knowledge.
