CAREER: Chittagong Hill Tracts Linguistic Documentation

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With National Science Foundation support, Dr. David A. Peterson will conduct linguistic research in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh with the goal of providing high-quality documentation materials for as many indigenous languages spoken in the region as possible. Most of the indigenous languages in question belong to the Tibeto-Burman family of languages; they are all under-described and in several cases endangered. Building on materials already collected for Khumi, an important Kuki-Chin language, Dr. Peterson will produce a reference grammar, dictionary, and collection of texts. He will then turn his attention to the documentation of Mru, a virtually undescribed language whose position in the Tibeto-Burman family is not yet firmly established. The project will provide data which will advance comparative linguistic studies for this language family. The project also includes research training for Bangladeshi fieldworkers and students at Dartmouth College. Dr. Peterson will teach workshops at the University of Dhaka for advanced undergraduate and graduate students on conducting fieldwork in the Hill Tracts, and direct year-long research programs on other indigenous languages for Bangladeshi fieldworkers. Speakers of Khumi and Mru will be brought to the U.S. to work with the PI during the academic year and to serve as consultants in field methods courses at Dartmouth College. Through the workshops and the funding of Bangladeshi fieldworkers, the project aims to initiate a tradition of field research among indigenous communities in Bangladesh.