Project NON-INDOEUROPEAN LANGUAGES AND THE EXPRESSION OF MOTION Program Clarence E. Dammon Dean Term Academic Year 2023 Status Accepted Research Area Linguistics Description From a linguistic point of view, Non-Indoeuropean Languages (in particular, indigenous languages from the American and African continents, as well as the Asian-Pacific area) are interesting because they have specific syntactic mechanisms to encode the complexity of an event, such as Motion events, in particular Serial Verb Constructions. This project looks at the different mechanisms that such languages use to encode Motion Predicates (predicates that express how things and entities move from one place to another). The goal of this particular project is to identify the formal properties (verb series, prepositions, etc…) that arise in speakers’ productions. Different researchers in our group are focusing on different aspects of such Motion Predicates. We have collected data from different languages using a video animated application depicting animals, humans, things moving around. By using the same ‘collecting mechanism’ we minimize differences and that way we know better where the deep differences are. Speakers are video-recorded while producing their responses to what they see in the animated clip. Then we transfer the recording to a computer and transcribe the data. We then code the productions for linguistic properties. This research project embeds itself within the activities of the Indigenous and Endangered Languages Lab (IELLab). Supervisor Elena E Benedicto Mentor Type of work required Students will code the video-recordings using a special software (ELAN) while interacting with other members of the IELLab.
For this particular research internship, we are interested in students that will code either (a) how speakers combine gestures with spoken language or (b) the form the verbs take in the speakers’ productions. There are a variety of languages being studied at the IELLab (from Akan to Kriols) and students will team up with other researchers working on different aspects of the project, in order to learn about those languages.

Students will receive training for the tasks involved.
Students will participate in the relevant IELLab meetings and will write a (research) report at the end of the semester about the experience. The student will also be encouraged to work with an eye on presenting a poster or writing a publication in JPUR.
Websites https://www.cla.purdue.edu/sis/p/iell/index.html
Qualifications Desirable: - Knowledge or interest in less-commonly taught languages (non-Indoeuropean). - Intro to Linguistics (LING 201 or similar), or willing to catch up on key concepts Must: - Strong intellectual curiosity - Willingness to explore issues on your own. - Ability to work as part of a team. Will need to finish CITI training online. Credit Hours 2 Weekly Hours 6 (estimated)