Short bio

I am currently a lecturer in the Language and Linguistics Program at Brandeis University and the Linguistics program at Boston University ;.

I am interested in examining how language change informs our understanding of phonology and morphology.  My research interests include:  

  • the phonology of stress systems (and especially morphologically governed stress systems);
  • nominal categorization, including noun classifier, noun class and gender systems, and the computational modeling of these systems;
  • the phonology of poetic meter and rhyme; and
  • the linguistics of ancient and modern law.

I am also interested in the historical grammar of the various Indo-European branches, the Mayan languages, and the languages of the Caucasus.  Much of my work has focused on the older Indo-European languages, the Native American languages of the Pacific Northwest, and the languages of the Caucasus.

I have recently added a new dimension to my research by studying change in heritage languages.  My work as a member of The Polinsky Language Sciences Lab includes serving as administrator of the Lab's Dataverse, which allows me to combine my historical and computational interests.