Collaborative Research: Advancing Open-Access Resources for Languages: Investigating evidentiality and focus features

NSF Award Search · 01002526DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT · $240,470 · view on nsf.gov ↗

Abstract

This project investigates evidential markers, the grammatical coding of information source and speaker’s perspectives. Evidential markers indicate whether a statement is based on direct observation, inference, hearsay, or other types of evidence. Examining how different languages express source of information can provide insights into how speakers evaluate information, revealing deeper cognitive processes. The project's goal is to create treebanks/universal dependencies corpora to develop an automated deep-learning natural language processing (NLP) model. Considering the distributional characteristics around evidential markers, the model will be able to extract information from texts semi-automatically. The project explores a key linguistic question: why evidential markers in some languages behave differently from those in other languages, as they seem to have more than one function and allow more flexibility in how they appear in sentences. This flexibility may affect how language users show evidence or emphasis in longer conversations. The work will not only expand understanding of how these languages work but also support language technology development. Because the project will use a deep learning architecture to develop this NLP model, there are several other potential applications beyond the proposed linguistics goals: the development of machine translation tools; text summarization; and other types of human-machine interactions (e.g. chatbots) and AI systems. T

Key facts

NSF award ID
2517820
Awardee
University of Illinois at Chicago (IL)
SAM.gov UEI
W8XEAJDKMXH3
PI
Liliana E Sanchez
Primary program
01002526DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT
All programs
Artificial Intelligence (AI), LINGUISTICS, DLI-Dyn Language Infrastructure, Translational Research, GRADUATE INVOLVEMENT, SCIENCE, MATH, ENG & TECH EDUCATION
Estimated total
$240,470
Funds obligated
$240,470
Transaction type
Standard Grant
Period
08/15/2025 → 07/31/2028