This grant funds research leading to a doctoral dissertation in Linguistics. The dissertation will consist primarily of a detailed description and analysis of the phonology of Betta Kurumba, supplemented with a description of its morphology. Betta Kurumba is a Dravidian language spoken by fewer than 1000 people in the Nilgiri Mountains (also called the Nilgiris) in southern India.
The project is expected to have significance for (a) the documentation and description of Betta Kurumba, a language on which insufficient research has been done so far; (b) an understanding of the similarities and differences among phonological systems in the world's diverse languages, by contributing a case study of one language; (c) documentation of the oral literature of an indigenous ethnic group in the Nilgiris; and (d) the promotion of language maintenance and native-language literacy among members of a minority ethnic group.
Project work involves a year of field research in Theppakadu, a region in the Nilgiris where a substantial number of the Betta Kurumba community live. The data gathered will consist of elicited lists of Betta Kurumba words and sentences, as well as stories and naturally occurring conversations in Betta Kurumba. The data will be primarily recorded through audio-tapes, but supplementary video-tape recordings of natural discourse in conversations, story-telling sessions, and ceremonial rituals will also be made as an aid for analysis and documentation.
