ABSTRACT The objective of this project is to produce a definitive descriptive grammar of the Alabama language--a Native American language of the Muskogean family of the southeast currently spoken by several hundred people on the Alabama-Coushatta Reservation in East Texas. The grammar will include a description of the phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax and semantics, and elements of the discourse structure of the language. Information on the language will come from the investigator's own research, conducted since 1980, and from continued field work with native speakers. In addition, information concerning higher-level syntax, semantics, and discourse structure will come from the analysis of a number of recordings including the following: recordings made from 1957- 1962 by an Alabama speaker, who elicited from elders historical and cultural texts, as well as traditional myths and folktales; publicly recorded speeches, possibly the first recordings of the language; and my own recordings of contemporary stories, jokes, and conversations. This little-studied language is one of the few remaining aspects of the heritage of the Alabamas and the grammar will help in its preservation. The grammar will serve as a companion just to the completed Alabama Dictionary as well as to a planned collections of texts.
