PhD University of Arizona, Department of Linguistics
As a linguist I see language as a complex object which we do not fully understand but which is primarily a social/cultural tool that takes various physical forms to serve a variety of social/cultural functions. Thus, I see linguistics as a meso-science, one in which the various subfields explore different aspects of language (e.g. structure, biological and cognitive underpinnings, various physical manifestations, cultural and social functions), to further our understanding – but language itself cannot be reduced to one subfield/field or another nor can one linguist understand it in its totality. I also see linguistics as a discovery science with the task of the linguist to not only work towards a full understanding and discovery of what language actually may be, but to also apply the knowledge that we gain along the way to address real world issues.
Research Interests
Language; Linguistics; Linguistic Anthropology; Minority, Endangered, and Lesser Studied Languages; Language Documentation and Preservation; Bi-/Multilingualism; Code-switching; Syntax; Morphology; Language Policy and Planning; Computational Linguistics (Applied FST)