Research overview
I am primarily a
phonologist, seeking to understand how the human mind structures physical speech (oro-laryngeal sound emissions, pitch, rhythm, etc.) into the linguistic sound systems that we find in the world's languages. My research, mainly fieldwork-based, centers on the analysis of sound patterns in understudied languages in order to contribute to our understanding of cross-linguistic phonological diversity, as well as to assist - where desired - in the development of orthographies and pedagogical materials in communities where these languages are spoken. I'm especially interested in Mesoamerican languages and work on Huave (an isolate) and Amuzgo (Oto-Manguean), both spoken in Oaxaca State, Mexico.
Much of my research focuses on issues at the phonetics-phonology and morphology-phonology interfaces. Recent and ongoing work on Huave includes topics such as gradient vs. categorical aspects of diphthongization and palatalization, novel patterns of blocking and agreement in vowel harmony, and the diagnosis of morphological and prosodic constituency based on affix order and the domains of phonological rules. Within phonological theory I am particularly interested in issues of phonological representation (e.g. distinctive feature theory), and also word-prosodic typology, tone, and intonation.
In the course of fieldwork and language description, morphosyntactic and semantic issues inevitably arise. Currently I'm collaborating with Andrew Koontz-Garboden on "
The Grammar of Multifunctionality," an AHRC-funded project about the semantics of the use of possessive morphology on property concept words in Ulwa, Huave, and other languages. The project has revealed many issues regarding Huave lexical classes and their morphosyntactic behavior. In general, I am very happy to correspond with typologists, morphologists, syntacticians, etc. who would like to know how X works in Huave or whether Huave has phenomenon Y.
Some recent handouts
Work in progress. Comments more than welcome! Please contact me before citing.
2012
2010
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