Linguistics

Session I

Evie Freeman, "Minority Language Preservation Strategies in Spain: A Case Study of Basque and Catalan"

This project investigates language preservation strategies employed in Spain to protect Catalan and Basque, two minority languages with concentrated regional presences. Through an examination of Spain’s commitments under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, this research identifies preservation techniques across domains including education, public services, and media. The project also incorporates observational fieldwork conducted during travel through Catalonia, Navarre, and the Basque Country, documenting the visibility and use of Catalan and Basque in public spaces. Five destinations in Spain represent a diverse range of population size, rural and urban society, and level of tourism. The research demonstrates the range of institutional strategies used to preserve Catalan and Basque, and finds that despite broadly comparable legal protections, the two languages diverge in lived visibility: Catalan appears ambient and pervasive in public space while Basque feels concentrated and deliberate. This suggests that similar preservation policy frameworks can generate different linguistic landscapes. 

Student Major(s)/Minor: International Relations Major

Advisor: Dr. Megan Gotowski

Session II

Harriet Ramasamy, "Vowel Length Sensitivity in Preschoolers"

This project explores final lengthening, where, at the end of linguistic units (word, phrase, utterance), speakers elongate their final vowel. Generally, non-final length variations provide useful linguistic information, however, final lengthening does not. Consequently, adults are more sensitive to non-final length variations and less sensitive to final ones (Hogoboom & Lorber, 2023). This project evaluates this sensitivity in preschool-age participants, and discusses whether their perception is adult-like, or whether young children initially encode final lengthening as meaningful duration. We use children, as they show us what patterns are a part of the default assumptions speakers have about language vs. what is learned over time. It will be determined whether participants, when presented with two audio stimuli that are either identical or vary by vowel duration, can detect any potential difference between them. To facilitate this, participants will be introduced to robot puppets, and will participate in a task involving sticker distribution to twin robots with identical names, except for possibly the length of the vowel. 

Student Major/Minor: Linguistics Major, Psychological Sciences Minor

Advisor: Dr. Anya Hogoboom