9220219 Comrie The Principal Investigators will prepare a descriptive grammar of Tsez (Dido), a hitherto little investigated language of the Daghestan region in the Caucasus mountains, in collaboration with a native speaker of Tsez. The grammar will throw light on a number of phenomena of current interest in linguistic theory, including gender/class systems, ergativity, clause linkage, and extraction phenomena. In addition to the grammar, the Principal Investigators intend to prepare a collection of Tsez texts with dictionary for publication, and to publish articles on points of more general interest in Tsez grammar. This detailed work on the Tsez language will also contribute to our understanding of historical-linguistic and ethnic patterns in Daghestan, an important cultural area on the border of Russian and Islamic spheres of influence. ***
