About

I'm a recent PhD graduate of the University of Chicago Department of Linguistics. I do research on Arctic and North American indigenous languages, language change, language contact and shift, anthropological linguistics and semantics. Broadly, my interests lie in the interactions between language structure, culture, and environment.  In particular, most of my work focuses on deixis and spatial language in Kalaallisut, a Yupik-Inuit language spoken in Greenland. My doctoral research has examined ongoing change in the demonstrative system, through fieldwork in Nuuk, Greenland and in Denmark. 

Currently, I am completing research for a  National Science Foundation Linguistics: Dynamic Language Infrastructure grant, #2004015 Documenting contact and shift in a demonstrative system. 

Contact me at: hilary.mcmahan AT gmail DOT com