My ARIA project this summer, 鈥淭he Case of the Missing Vowels: Analysis of Lushootseed Sound System and Syllable Structure,鈥� focused on Lushootseed, an underdocumented Indigenous language of the Puget Sound region of Washington State. Lushootseed belongs to the Salish language family, which is known for having large consonant inventories and unusually long and complex strings of consonants. As Lushootseed no longer has native speakers, the revitalization efforts active in the region target language learners with an English-speaking background. Since less than half of the consonant inventory and many of the consonant sequences of Lushootseed don鈥檛 exist in English, I focused on evaluating the language鈥檚 syllable structure. Analyzing the differences between the syllable structure of Lushootseed and English can help learners parse the long and complex strings of consonants ubiquitous in Lushootseed.
My interest in an ARIA project originated from the phonology course I took this past year taught by Professor Heather Goad that broached the subject of syllable structure constraints. I knew I wanted to work closely with Professor Heather Goad on this topic of shared interest and the ARIA project offered the perfect opportunity to do so. This ARIA project also provided me with the unique opportunity to conduct independent research as an undergraduate, allowing me to deepen my research skills in a field I intend to pursue professionally.
Since this project depended largely on the analysis of data patterns, my learning objectives were to gain experience in data compilation and interpretation, as well as coding for and synthesizing large quantities of data. The autonomy of the project also allowed me to enhance my organization and self-discipline, while the weekly meetings with my supervisor enabled me to develop effective communication and collaboration skills.
A major highlight of this internship came after I finished compiling and sorting the data on Lushootseed roots, when I was finally able to identify patterns in the syllable structure of the roots. The patterned constraints on root and syllable shape that emerged from the synthesized data I gathered were all the more significant when compared to the seemingly unbound nature of Lushootseed words that appear on the surface. These results reaffirmed the potential significance of this project to language revitalization efforts, as it provided evidence of internal structure that could aid language learners in their pronunciation and increase proficiency.
A major challenge for this project, meanwhile, was the amount of preparatory work required to make the data workable to be able to move onto the analysis phase of the research. As the limited research on this language had not completed the morphological analysis of each word, this background work had to be integrated into the research procedure and returned to throughout the investigation as newfound patterns revealed morpheme boundaries in what were previously thought to be individual roots. This, in turn, required me to deepen, and consequentially narrow, the scope of the project in order to properly examine these patterns.
Additionally, I had limited experience utilizing the coding and data sorting software necessary for this project and found the existing data analysis tools were often undesigned to fit my particular research needs. To work through this, I acquainted myself with the range of existing coding features to be able to make decisions on how best to organize the data. This meant adapting existing coding functions to the data when this was satisfactory, as well as developing a separate code for particular data analysis needs that required more streamlined data organization.
This ARIA project has provided me with hands-on experience in a research setting, enabling me to develop valuable investigative skills such as data preparation and synthesis. It has also imparted the importance of delineating an appropriate scope for future research. As I am pursuing the Honours program in Linguistics at 91社区, the research gathered over this summer will be directly developed and incorporated into an Honours thesis this coming academic year, providing me with a strong foundation and direction for this endeavor. More long-term, the research skills developed during this project will aid me in my greater academic goals, as I plan to remain in academia and work towards a PhD, which requires strong proficiency in independent research and analysis.
As my first foray into academic research beyond a classroom setting, this project has instilled in me a confidence and joy for linguistic research that I will carry forth with me into future courses at 91社区 and beyond. I鈥檇 like to thank Mr. Neal Merker and Ms. Anna Stein whose generous support made this project possible. I鈥檇 also like to thank my supervisor, Professor Heather Goad, whose invaluable guidance and passion made this project a truly unforgettable experience.
