Research
Research
Embedded Files
My linguistic work focuses on Mam (Mayan) language revitalization and maintenance through teaching courses on language and culture in a US diaspora community. My interests in theoretical linguistics are in generative syntax and morphology. My dissertation research aims to understand the nature of person features, pronominal syntax, and pronominal spell-out in Mam.
2023. Pronouns and Agreement in San Juan Atitán Mam. UC Berkeley Doctoral Dissertation. [dissertation] [defense]
Academic CV here
Mam (Mayan)
Language Revitalization
My linguistic work focuses on Mam (Mayan) language revitalization and maintenance through teaching courses on language and culture in a US diaspora community. With Silvia Carrillo Godinez, a Mam language teacher in Guatemala, and Cristina Méndez, a UC Berkeley PhD candidate, we are currently focusing on creating materials for learners. Visit our website for more information.
In the news:
BBC. The Mayan Languages Spreading Across the US (May 2025)
UC Berkeley Social Sciences Matrix. Language Revitalization in Oakland: A Visual Interview with Tessa Scott (August 2023)
UC Berkeley News. Keeping alive our Indigenous cultures on Mother Language Day. (February 2022)
Berkeley Center for Latin American Studies (CLAS) Blog Post: Qo xnaq’tzan tuj tzalajb’il tu’ntzan tjaw ch’iw qchwinqlal: We teach with happiness for a better future. (April 2021)
The New Yorker: A translation Crisis at the border. (January 2020)
Research:
2025. Learn Mam with Sophia: Story-Based Language Learning. Poster to be presented at the 13th Annual Indigenous Language Institute Symposium. Albuquerque, New Mexico. [abstract] [resource]
2024. Dinámicas de traducción: colaboración en el idioma Mam. Talk at FAMLi7. Mexico City, Mexico. With Silvia Lucrecia Carillo Godinez and Cristina Mendez. [slides]
2023. Working Conditions: Challenges and Strategies for Teaching, Retaining, and Staffing LOTE Programs. Panel discussion at the 2023 Modern Languages Association (MLA) Convention. San Francisco, California. With Shaughnessy, M., Jensen, A.
2021. Maya Mam language and culture revitalization in a diaspora community. 3rd Symposium on Indigenous Languages and Cultures of Latin America. With Mendez, Cristina, Henry Sales Hernandez. [slides]
2020. Teaching Mam language classes in California. Poster. Symposium for American Indian Languages (SAIL). Tuscon, Arizona. With Henry Sales. [canceled due to COVID-19]
Mam (Mayan)
Syntax, Semantics, Morphology, Phonology
2024-5. Severing verbs from their arguments: Directionals and argument structure in Mam. With Noah Elkins and Justin Royer.
2024. Super-extended ergativity in Mam. Talk at WCCFL. Berkeley, California. With Noah Elkins and Justin Royer. [handout]
2023. Pronouns and Agreement in San Juan Atitán Mam. UC Berkeley Doctoral Dissertation. [dissertation] [defense]
2023. Person marking enclitics in San Juan Atitan Mam. Presentation at the 26th Workshop on the Structure and Constituency of Languages of the Americas (WSCLA 26). McGill University, Montréal, Canada. [handout]
2021. Object licensing in San Juan Atitán Mam.
2020. Pronominal licensing in Mam. In NELS 50: Proceedings of the Fiftieth Annual Meeting of the North East Linguistic Society, vol. 3, eds. Mariam Asatryan, Yixiao Song, & Ayana Whitmal, 127-140. [pdf - lingbuzz]
2020. Dialectal variation in Mam ergativity and syntax.
2020. Inclusivity in Mam morphosyntax. Poster at Linguistics Society of America 94. New Orleans, LA. [poster] [supplement]
2019. Pronominal licensing in Mam (Mayan). Talk at North Eastern Linguistics Society 50. Boston, MA. [handout]
2019. Morphologically conditioned subsegmental subtraction in Mam. Talk at Conference on Indigenous Languages of Latin America. Austin, TX. With Myriam Lapierre and Karee Garvin [slides]
2019. Case and Agreement in Mam. Talk at Workshop on Languages of Meso-America. Santa Cruz, CA. [handout]
2019. Second position clitic placement in Mam (Mayan).
Proceedings, In NELS 49: Proceedings of the Forty-Ninth Annual Meeting of the North East Linguistic Society, vol. 3, eds. Maggie Baird & Jonathan Pesetsky, 117-126. [pdf - lingbuzz]
(2018.) Poster, Anti-clitic host requirement on second position clitic in SJA-Mam. Poster NELS 49. Ithaca, NY. [poster]
2018. Extraction Morphology and Relative clauses in Mam. Talk presented at the Workshop on the Structure and Constituency of Languages of the Americas (WSCLA) 23. Ottawa, Ontario. [handout]
Ndengeleko, Swahili (Bantu)
Syntax, Morphology, Phonology
2021. Two types of resumptive pronouns in Swahili. Linguistic Inquiry, 5 (4): 812 – 833. [link] [pdf - lingbuzz]
2021. Formalizing two types of A/A' movement. Manuscript. UC Berkeley [pdf - lingbuzz]
2021. Formalizing three types of mixed A/A' agreement. Move and Agree: Forum on the formal typology of A' agreement. Hosted virtually by the University of British Columbia and McGill University. [handout]
2020. Two types of "composite" probes. Talk at WCCFL 38. Vancouver, British Columbia. [handout]
2019. Conjoint/disjoint alternation and linearization in Ndengeleko. Poster at LSA 2019. NY. [poster]
2019. with Isaac Gould. On the derivation of Swahili amba relative clauses: Evidence for movement. In Theory and description in African Linguistics (4): Selected papers from the 47th Annual Conference on African Linguistics. eds. Emily Clem, Peter Jenks, Hannah Sande. Language Science Press, 441-462 [pdf] 2021. Formalizing two types of mixed A/A' movement. manuscript [pdf - lingbuzz]
2018. Two types of resumptive pronouns in Swahili. Talk presented at the World Congress on African Linguistics. Rabat, Morocco. [handout]
2018. Syntactic deletion within resumptive pronouns in Swahili.
Talk presented at the 49th Annual Conference on African Linguistics (ACAL). Lansing, MI. [handout]
Talk presented at Stanford Syntax and Morphology Circle.
2018. Obligatory Resumptive Pronouns in Swahili. Talk presented at the 92nd annual meeting of the Linguistics Society of America. Salt Lake City, UT.
2016. On the derivation of Swahili amba relative clauses Evidence for movement. Talk presented at the 47th Annual Conference on African Linguistics. Berkeley, CA. With Isaac Gould.
2015. The Effect of Syllable Structure and Minimality on Arabic and English Loanwords in Swahili. Talk presented at the Tri-College Undergraduate Linguistics Conference. Haverford, PA.
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