Languages, Linguists, and Labeling: The Case of the ‘Future’ in Cherokee

Most linguists have to make use of another researcher’s language data at one point or another, including that researcher’s glosses into English or another common language. While this data-sharing is crucial for broadening our understanding of how language works, we must be cautious: even seemingly simple decisions about how to translate a word or label a morpheme are deceivingly complex, and are not, in fact, ever fully atheoretical. This talk explores the limits of this approach by looking at the case of Cherokee. Several different constructions in Cherokee have traditionally been called “future tense”.

Sylvia Schreiner, Mellon Post-Doctoral Teaching Fellow in Applied Linguistics, presents the next Faculty Lunch Talk on Thursday, November 7, 2013 at 12:30 p.m. in President’s Dining Room. All are welcome to attend.

Fall 2013 Faculty Lunch Talks schedule (pdf)

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