Research

Overview

My interest in language contact was initially sparked by my fascination on how multiple languages coexist in time and space together. From there, reading on pronoun borrowing grew my desire to learn more about how contact induces language change and variation. I currently focus on how morphology and grammatical features can change when two or more languages interact. This has implications for bi- and multilingualism, creolistics, and language genesis and evolution.

I work primarily within the Distributed Morphology and Language Ecology contexts. Inspired by Baptista, Gelman, and Beck 2016, my work is guided by ovearching questions regarding how and why humans choose specific morphological forms and functions when presented with multiple options and what this can tells us about the larger functions of morphology within human language and communicative needs.

Primary Research Languages

Betawi Speaker populations of focus: Jakarta, Tangerang, Bekasi (Indonesia); Queens, NYC (United States)

Ambon Malay Speaker populations of focus: Molukse wijk residents and their descendants (the Netherlands); NYC (United States)

Ongoing Projects (Collapsible)

Why does studying language contact & diversity matter?

It's all around us. Check out these interesting maps showing language contact & diversity across Philly, NYC, & the United States.