Vice Chair of the Board of Regents, Jack L. Fortner | The University of New Mexico
The University of New Mexico Department of Linguistics recently received a $494,659 National Science Foundation (NSF) grant for their project titled, “Addressee effects in demonstrative systems across bilingual communities.” This three-year project, funded by NSF, will be housed in UNM’s Department of Linguistics and led by Professors Naomi Shin and Rosa Vallejos-Yopán in collaboration with Amalia Skilton from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland.
The project spans three bilingual communities: Secoya-Spanish and Ticuna-Spanish bilinguals in the Amazon, and Spanish-English bilinguals in New Mexico. Ticuna and Secoya are endangered Indigenous languages.
“Receiving this NSF grant highlights the importance and benefits of collaborative work, which is something that we cherish and prioritize in our academic community of linguists at UNM,” said Naomi Shin. “Through this NSF grant we are able to expand the scope of our work and, as such, we learn more about languages and bilingualism across communities and we engage in more community-outreach efforts, all while strengthening and building our academic community here at UNM.”
One of the most striking facts about the languages of the world is that they are both similar and unique at the same time. This project aims to uncover specific ways in which languages differ and to understand why such differences arise. Demonstratives like this/that in English and este/ese/aquel in Spanish provide an excellent tool for advancing these aims because these types of words exist in all languages to manage attention, which is a general function of language. The four languages in the study vary in their demonstrative systems. Ticuna has four demonstratives, Secoya has three, and English has two. Some Spanish varieties have three demonstratives; others have two.
"This grant brings two endangered Amazonian languages into the linguistic debate, which improves our ability to theorize about how human languages work in general. However, to successfully work with endangered languages, it is imperative that we build long-term, collaborative relationships with the communities where we conduct our research. What makes me particularly happy is that this grant creates more opportunities to train students with a community-centered approach," added Rosa Vallejos-Yopán.
Does the number of demonstratives available in a given language impact the selection of one word or another? And what happens when bilinguals speak languages with different demonstrative systems? The three selected communities offer a unique testing ground to address these questions. In New Mexico, Spanish-dominant and English-dominant bilinguals abound. In the Ticuna region, Ticuna-Spanish bilingualism is widespread but most speakers remain Ticuna-dominant. In the Secoya region, bilingualism is emerging: most elders are monolingual in Secoya while younger people vary in Spanish proficiency. Comparing these communities advances understanding how language dominance predicts the transfer of linguistic features from one language to another.
The project also contributes to methodologies for studying bilingualism worldwide and serves as an intensive research training experience for students at The University of New Mexico. Additionally, it benefits communities by building capacity via workshops, language materials designed for educators, and disseminating articles that make research findings accessible for the community at large.
The project is the culmination of decades of work. Shin has 25 years' experience researching Spanish-English bilingualism in the United States. As co-director of the Lobo Language Acquisition Lab at UNM, Shin has overseen numerous research teams comprised of graduate and undergraduate students. Vallejos-Yopán has 26 years' experience working with Amazonian communities; she has studied Kukama (Tupian language), Secoya (Tukanoan language), and Amazonian Spanish since 2006 generating resources including reading books for children and a writing system guide for Secoyas. Skilton has conducted fieldwork for 11 years working with Máíhɨ̃ki (a Tukanoan language) speakers among others.
Over years securing funding from various agencies helped secure this NSF grant; support came from ADVANCE at UNM among others including W.K Kellogg Foundation.
Shin & Vallejos-Yopán excitedly host this project within renowned usage-based linguistics department hoping it attracts outstanding global/local students mentoring minority groups leveraging NM's rich linguistic diversity perfecting location engagement/research on Bilingualism.
---
