Encoding Space, Place and Landscape in Wao Terero

My dissertation applies a mixed-methodological approach to better understand space as experienced by Wao Terero speakers by describing the linguistic encoding of spatial information. Drawing from natural discourse as well as data elicited using non-linguistic stimuli designed for the semantic domain of space, I investigate the morphological, syntactic, and gestural strategies employed by speakers of Wao Terero to describe the experience of space—offering an example of a multimodal study of language contextualized in discourse that can facilitate future typological work.

Creating a Comprehensive Record of Wao Language, Culture, and History (via Digital Repatriation)

In addition to the documentation work that speakers of Wao Terero and I have carried out with since 2011, we are also working to transcribe, translate, and ultimately make available recordings of Wao Terero conversations, stories, and songs from the late 1950s and early 1960s. These recordings were newly digitized in 2020 and have the potential to deepen understanding of Wao history and cultural heritage. They hold personal importance to descendants of the speakers as they are either now elderly or have since passed and also provide an historical record in a situation where there are often no records of earlier language use, which is particularly important in the context of a language isolate in an area of increasing contact. Digitally repatriating these materials is a continuation of our work thus far, which prioritizes making the resources that result from documentation long-lasting and accessible to members of the language community to use to their benefit.

The Mixteco/Indígena Community Organizing Project (MICOP) and the Linguistics Department at the University of California, Santa Barbara are conducting the first survey of the use of Indigenous Mexican languages (mainly Mixtec & Zapotec) in Ventura County, CA. The goals of this survey are to identify linguistic needs of community members and improve our understanding of linguistic diversity in the area.

The short-form videos posted on TikTok are a site for inter-textual performances of identity that often cannot be parsed without appealing to embodiment. There are emergent gestural conventions on TikTok that achieve various types of signaling, including the embodiment of certain personae, determining group belonging (or lack thereof), and indexing stance. Observations of this process in the fast-moving space of online discourse can provide evidence to support theorized pathways for the conventionalization of gesture more broadly.