Activities

Keynote addresses and personally invited conference panel papers
  1. 2022. Cognitive schemas, language contact and alignment change in Nagamese. Invited plenary address, 36th South Asian Linguistic Analysis Roundtable (SALA36) and 43rd meeting of the Linguistics Society of Nepal (LSN43). Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, 26-29 November. http://sala-36.cdltu.edu.np
  2. 2022. Creating dictionaries for the languages of Northeast India: a fieldworker’s guide. Invited keynote address, 6th Computational Resource for South Asian Languages Symposium (CorSAL VI): Collecting, Organizing and Archiving Materials for Dictionaries, 30 September.
  3. 2022. Invited panelist for International Mother Language Day screening of a documentary film ‘Dreaming of Words’ and discussion on lexicography and making a multilingual dictionary. Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi, 21 February.
  4. 2019. The Aoic languages in areal and typological perspective. Keynote paper, 29th meeting of the Southeast Asian Linguistic Society, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, 27–29 May. https://sealsxxix.wixsite.com/seals29
  5. 2015. Making dictionaries for minority languages: Data collection methodologies and orthographical issues. Invited paper for special panel: ‘Making dictionaries of the lesser-known languages of North-East India’. 37th International Conference of the Linguistic Society of India (ICOLSI37), Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi, 15–17 October.
  6. 2011. Tense, but in the mood: Diachronic perspectives on the representation of time in Ao. Keynote paper read at the Workshop on the Representation of Time in Asian Languages (WRTAL 2011), Institute of Linguistics, Academia Sinica, Taipei, 26–28 October.
  7. 2011. Grammar writing from a Tibeto-Burman perspective. Invited panel paper read at the 17th Himalayan Languages Symposium, Kobe City University of Foreign Studies, Kobe, 6–9 September.
  8. 2010. The languages of the Naga and their position in Tibeto-Burman: historical overview and current perceptions. Invited panel paper read at the International Symposium on Sino-Tibetan Comparative Studies in the 21st Century. Institute of Linguistics, Academia Sinica Taipei, June 24-25.
Personally invited departmental seminar papers (travel/accommodation expenses and/or honorarium paid)
  1. 2021. Phonological features of Aoic languages. Academia Sinica, Taipei, 23 August.
  2. Nominalization and grammatical complexity in Tibeto-Burman and beyond. Invited paper read at the Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, 2 March 2017.
  3. 2017. On grammaticalization processes in Ao: sources, functions and grammatical extensions. Invited paper read at the Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, 1 March.
  4. 2016. Why are Tibeto-Burman languages so typologically diverse? Invited paper read at the Department of Linguistics, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, for the ‘Diversity in ASEAN’ lecture series, 9 September.
  5. 2016. On grammaticalization processes in Ao: Sources, pathways and functional extensions. Invited paper read at the Department of English and American Studies, Heinrich Heine University, Düsseldorf, 18 July.
  6. 2016. On the development of case marking systems in Sino-Tibetan. Invited paper read at L’Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Centre de Researches Linguistiques sur l’Asie Orientale, Paris, 27 April.
  7. 2016. Nominalization and grammatical complexity in Tibeto-Burman and beyond. Invited paper read at the Department of Linguistics, University of Antwerp, 13 April.
  8. 2016. Northeast India through the lens of language. Network meeting of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Department of English and American Studies, Heinrich Heine University, Düsseldorf, 29 February–2 March.
  9. 2012. Polyfunctional nominalizations in Tibeto-Burman: Trajectories of grammaticalization. Invited paper read at L’Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Centre de Researches Linguistiques sur l’Asie Orientale, Paris, 6 June.
Refereed international conference presentations and seminar papers

Peer-reviewed international conference/workshop papers

  1. 2019. Case syncretism and the grammaticalization of case alignments: Diachronic sources and pathways of development in Tibeto-Burman and beyond. Workshop on alignment change in different frameworks, International Conference on Historical Linguistics (ICHL24) Australian National University, Canberrra, 1-5 July.
  2. 2019. (co-authored with T. Temsunungsang) From oral tradition to written language: The Patsho Khiamniungan and Mongsen Ao dictionary projects. Conference on Asian Linguistic Anthropology, Paññāsāstra University of Cambodia, January 23-26.
  3. 2017. The typology of pragmatic case marking in Tibeto-Burman. South Asian Language Analysis Roundtable (SALA33), Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, 15–17 May 2017.
  4. 2016. On the development of case-marking systems in Sino-Tibetan and beyond. Workshop on the development of argument marking systems, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands, 31 March–1 April.
  5. 2015. Pre-stopped bilabial trills in Sangtam. The 18th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences (ICPhS18), SECC Glasgow, United Kingdom 10-14 August.
  6. 2015. Alexander R. Coupe, Joan M. Kelly, Peh Yang Yu, Lesley I. Tang & T. Temsunungsang. Giving it back: From oral folktales to illustrated bilingual reading books for minority languages. 4th International Conference on Language Documentation and Conservation, University of Hawaii at Mānoa, Honolulu, 26 February–1 March.
  7. 2014. Tone sandhi and vowel harmony patterns in Chang negation. South-East Asian Language Society Annual Conference, University of Yangon, Myanmar (SEALS24), 27–31 May.
  8. 2013. Phonological peculiarities of Sangtam: A preliminary investigation. 19th Himalayan Languages Symposium, The Australian National University, Canberra 6-7 September.
  9. 2012. Referent tracking strategies in Mongsen Ao and Chang discourse. South-East Asian Language Society Annual Conference, Agay, France 30 May–2 June.
  10. 2011. Agentive/ergative marking in Tibeto-Burman and Australian languages. Australian Linguistics Society Annual Conference, The Australian National University, Canberra 2–4 December.
  11. 2011. Compounding and grammaticalization in the Tibeto-Burman languages of Nagaland. 29th South Asia Linguistic Analysis Roundtable. Central Institute of Indian Languages, Mysore 6–8 January.
  12. 2010. The pragmatics of case marking in Tibeto-Burman languages of Nagaland. Workshop on optional case marking in Tibeto-Burman. 16th Himalayan Languages Symposium, SOAS London, 2–5 September.
  13. 2010. The Archive of Indigenous Languages and Cultures of Asia (AILCA) @ the Nanyang Technological Museum, Singapore. Third International Conference on the Inclusive Museum (Co-presented with Francesco Cavallaro). Yildiz Technical University, Istanbul, 29 June–2 July.
  14. 2009. The origins of tense marking in Ao. 42nd International Conference on Sino- Tibetan Languages and Linguistics, Payap University Chiang Mai, Thailand. 2–4 November.
  15. 2009. On some reanalysed functions of obliques in Ao. Fourth meeting of the North- East Indian Linguistic Society, North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong, Meghalaya India, 15–17 January.
  16. 2008. The role of instruments in the diachronic development of clause-linking morphology. Workshop on morphosyntactic aspects of instruments and instrumentals. Australian Linguistics Society Annual Conference, University of Sydney, 4 July.
  17. 2006. Diachronic sources of converb morphology in Ao. The 39th International Conference on Sino-Tibetan Languages and Linguistics, University of Washington, Seattle, 15–17 September.
  18. 2006. Typological features of prosody in three Tibeto-Burman languages of Nagaland. Australian Linguistics Society Annual Conference. University of Queensland, Brisbane, 7–9 July.
  19. 2006. Shared characteristics of clause linkage in the languages of Nagaland. Inaugural meeting of the North-East India Linguistics Society, Gauhati University, Guwahati, India, 6–7 February.
  20. 2005. Mongsen Ao as a converb prominent language. The 11th Himalayan Languages Symposium. Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, 6–9 December.
  21. 2005. Teasing apart nominalisation and relativisation in Mongsen Ao. Australian Linguistics Society Annual Conference. Monash University, Melbourne, 28–30 September.
  22. 2004. Recounting the numeral systems of Nagaland: old evidence for a new subgrouping? The 10th Himalayan Languages Symposium. Thimphu, Bhutan, 1–3 December.
  23. 2003. Verbal lexical suffixes in the Mongsen dialect of Ao. The 36th International Conference on Sino-Tibetan Languages and Linguistics. La Trobe University, Melbourne, 28–30 November.
  24. 2002. Tense, but in the mood: deictic reference in Ao. University of Melbourne Linguistics and Applied Linguistics Postgraduate Conference. University of Melbourne, 7 October.
  25. 2001. Deictic functions of demonstratives in Ao. Australian Linguistics Society Annual Conference. Australian National University, Canberra 27–29 September.
  26. 1999. The glottal stop and creaky voice in Ao. The 5th Himalayan Languages Symposium. Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, 13–15 September.
  27. 1998. The acoustic and perceptual features of tone in the Tibeto-Burman language Ao Naga. International Conference on Spoken Language Processing, Sydney, 30 November–4 December.
  28. 1997. Grammatical Marking in Ao. The 3rd Himalayan Languages Symposium. University of California at Santa Barbara, 18–20 July.
Seminar papers
  1. 2019. (co-presented with Joan Kelly) Languages made visible. Paper read in the School of Art, Design and Media Research Lecture Series, Nanyang Technological University, 20 October.
  2. 2019. Nominalization and tense/mood marking in the Aoic languages. Paper read at the Workshop on Linguistic and Cultural Diversity in the Northeast India-Myanmar-Southwest China Region, Nanyang Technological University, 6–7 August.
  3. 2019. The Aoic languages in areal and typological perspective. TGIF seminar series, School of Humanities, Nanyang Technological University, 22 March.
  4. 2017. Assessing the evidence for contact-induced grammaticalization in South Asia. Paper read at the Workshop on Grammaticalization and Language contact in Asia and Beyond, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, 4–5 October. [Link]
  5. 2016. Nominalization and grammatical complexity in Tibeto-Burman and beyond. Paper read at the Institute for Linguistics, University of Cologne, 12 May.
  6. 2014. Nominalization and grammatical complexity in Tibeto-Burman and beyond. Department of Linguistics, North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong India, 9 July.
  7. 2009. The origin and functions of the agentive case marker in Ao and other languages of Nagaland. Division of Linguistics and Multicultural Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 13 February.
  8. 2008. Transitivity and case marking in Ao and other languages of Nagaland. Department of Linguistics, Chulalongkorn University Bangkok, 21 November.
  9. 2008. Transitivity in Ao and other languages of Nagaland. Workshop on transitivity, Research Centre for Linguistic Typology, La Trobe University, 30 October.
  10. 2006. The languages of Nagaland and beyond: current research and future directions. Endangered Languages Academic Program, SOAS, University of London, 9 December.
  11. 2006. Linguistic convergence in Nagaland. Department of Linguistics, University of California at Santa Barbara, 12 October.
  12. 2006. The grammaticalisation of verbal morphology in Mongsen. Department of Linguistics, University of Oregon, 21 September.
  13. 2006. Nominalisation, relativisation and genitivisation in Mongsen Ao and Chang (with a passing peek at Khiamniungan). Nominalisation and its Discontents Workshop, Sino- Tibetan Special Interest Group, La Trobe University, 24 August.
  14. 2006. Fieldwork report on Chang, Khiamniungan and Yimchungrü. Sino-Tibetan Special Interest Group, La Trobe University, 20 April.
  15. 2006. Fieldwork methodology. Department of Linguistics, North-East Hill University, Shillong, Meghalaya India. 22 February.
  16. 2005. Research on the Tibeto-Burman languages of Nagaland. Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, 14 December.
  17. 2005. Functions of converbs in the Mongsen dialect of Ao. Department of Linguistics, University of Hong Kong, 15 March.
  18. 2005. Noun phrase apposition, compounding, and the emergence of grammar in Tibeto- Burman. Sino-Tibetan Special Interest Group, La Trobe University, 15 September.
  19. 2005. Fieldwork report on Chang and Khiamniungan, two Tibeto-Burman languages of Nagaland. Sino-Tibetan Special Interest Group, La Trobe University, 12 May.
  20. 2004. Converbs in the Mongsen dialect of Ao. Department of Linguistics, Delhi University, 19 November.
  21. 2004. Adverbial subordination in the Mongsen dialect of Ao. La Trobe University Linguistics Program, first semester seminar series, 12 May.
  22. 2003. The verbal morphology of Mongsen Ao. Research Centre for Linguistic Typology, La Trobe University, 1 October.
  23. 2003. Imperatives and commands in Ao. Workshop on imperatives and other commands, Research Centre for Linguistic Typology, La Trobe University, 26 March.
  24. 2001. Mongsen Ao. Workshop on Adjective classes, Research Centre for Linguistic Typology, La Trobe University, 31 October.
  25. 2001. Typological features of Mongsen Ao. Research Centre for Linguistic Typology, Lunchtime Seminar Series, La Trobe University, 12 February.
  26. 2000. Tense and time in Ao. Workshop on the typology of tense and time, Research Centre for Linguistic Typology, La Trobe University, 2 August.
  27. 1997. Valency changing derivations in Ao (Naga). Workshop on valency changing derivations, Research Centre for Linguistic Typology. Australian National University, 7 August.
  28. 1996. Preliminary sketch of relative clauses in Mongsen Ao. Workshop on relative clauses, Department of Linguistics. Australian National University, 14 June.
Membership of professional organisations
  1. Australian Linguistics Society: member since 2000.
  2. Association for Linguistic Typology: member since 2003.
  3. Resource Network for Linguistic Diversity: member of the international advisory panel 2009–2011.
Research affiliations
  1. Fellow of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, affiliated to the Institute for Linguistics, University of Cologne 2016–2018 (for 12 months in total, spread over 3 years).
  2. Research Affiliate, Centre of Excellence for the Dynamics of Language, Australian National University, 2015–2017.
Service to the professional community

Conference/Workshop chairmanship:

  1. Chair of organizing committee, Workshop on Linguistic and Cultural Diversity in the Northeast India-Myanmar-Southwest China Region, 6–7 August 2019, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.
  2. Chair of organizing committee, Workshop on Grammaticalization and Language Contact in Asia and Beyond, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, 4–5 October 2017. [Link]
  3. Chair of organizing committee, 20th Himalayan Languages Symposium, 16–18 July 2014, Nanyang Technological University.
  4. Chair of organizing committee, 45th International Conference on Sino-Tibetan Languages and Linguistics (ICSTLL45) and Workshops on Austroasiatic and Miao-Yao Languages, 26–28 October 2012, Nanyang Technological University. [Link]
Conference administration
  1. Member of the scientific committee, Conference on Asian Linguistic Anthropology, 2019.
  2. Reviewer of Abstracts, 5th Endangered and Lesser Known Languages (ELKL-5). Centre for Tribal Folklore, Language and Literature, Central University of Jharkhand Ranchi, India, 24–26 February 2017.
  3. Scientific Committee member, Chulalongkorn International Student Symposium on Southeast Asian Linguistics (Chula-ISSSEALS 2017). Faculty of Arts, Chulalonglorn University Bangkok, 8–9 June.
  4. Reviewer of Abstracts, 22nd Himalayan Languages Symposium, Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati India, 8–10 June 2016.
  5. Reviewer of Abstracts, The 18th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences (ICPhS18), SECC Glasgow, United Kingdom 10-14 August 2015.
  6. Member of organizing committee and reviewer of abstracts, Australian Linguistics Society Annual Conference, Research Centre for Linguistic Typology and Linguistics Program, La Trobe University, 2009.
Editorship of journals
  • Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area: Co-editor from March 2015 to November 2017.
  • Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area: Chief Editor, January 2012–February 2015.
  • Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area: Chief Editor, July 2007–January 2008.
Editorial committee membership
  • Indian Linguistics: member of the editorial board 2022 –.
  • Himalayan Linguistics: member of the editorial board 2000–2009.
  • Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area: member of the editorial board 2005–2007, February 2008–December 2011, December 2017-present.
Reviews of manuscript submissions
  • Ad hoc reviewer for the journals Diachronica, Lingua, Linguistics, Linguistic Typology. Journal of the South East Asian Linguistics Society, Journal of the International Phonetic Association, Himalayan Linguistics, Language & Linguistics and Studies in Language.
  • Ad hoc reviewer for conference proceedings of the inaugural meeting of the North East Indian
    Linguistics Society, 2006.
  • Ad hoc reviewer of book proposal submitted to Oxford University Press.
  • Ad hoc reviewer of book manuscript submitted to Springer publications.
  • Ad hoc reviewer of manuscript submitted to Mouton de Gruyter.
International reviews of research grant applications
  1. 2020 Assessor of two grant proposals for The Australian Research Council
  2. 2020 Assessor of five grant proposals for the Endangered Languages Fund.
  3. 2018 Assessor of grant proposal for the Endangered Languages Documentation Project, School of Oriental and African Studies (UK)
  4. 2017 Assessor of grant proposal for the Research Grants Council (RGC) of Hong Kong
  5. 2017 Assessor of two grant proposals for the Endangered Languages Documentation Project, School of Oriental and African Studies (UK)
  6. 2015 Assessor of grant proposal for the Swiss National Science Foundation
  7. 2015 Assessor of grant proposals for National Science Foundation (USA)
  8. 2014 Appointed assessor of Australian Research Council grant proposals.
  9. 2012 Assessor of grant proposals for the Endangered Languages Documentation Project (UK)
  10. 2011 Assessor of grant proposals for the Endangered Languages Documentation Project (UK)
  11. 2010 Assessor of grant proposals for National Science Foundation (USA)
  12. 2009 Assessor of grant proposals for the Endangered Languages Documentation Project (UK)
  13. 2009 Assessor of grant proposal for the World Oral Literature Project.
Consultancy work
  • 2011. Review of a Linguistics course curriculum (ELG365) for SIM University, Singapore.
Research Higher Degree examination
  1. Khoo Yong Kang. 2020. A corpus-based investigation of grammatical aspects in spoken Singapore Mandarin: its features and variations. Thesis submitted for the degree of Master of Arts, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Nanyang Technological University.
  2. Chan Wan Ting. 2020. Conceptualizing health from an Abui perspective. Thesis submitted for the degree of Master of Arts, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Nanyang Technological University
  3. Parker, Karen D. 2016. A grammar of Tikhak Tangsa, a language of North East India. Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, La Trobe University.
  4. Delpada, Benidiktus. 2015. Abui phonology. Thesis submitted for the degree of Master of Arts, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Nanyang Technological University.
  5. Sandong, David. 2012. A grammar of the Kadu (Asak) language. Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, La Trobe University.
Research higher degree supervision

PhD candidate supervision – 2 completed

  1. Hiram Ring. 2015. ‘A grammar of Pnar.’ (completed April 2015)
  2. Zakaria Muhammad. ‘A grammar of Hyow.’ (completed February 2018)
MA candidate supervision – 1 completed
  1. Soh Jyr Minn. ‘A description of serial verb constructions in Shan’.
Research higher degree co-supervision

PhD candidate supervision – 2 completed, 1 in progress,

  1. Bruno Olsson. 2018. Dissertation title: A grammar of Marind, a Papuan language of south New Guinea (completed January 2018)
  2. Takashi Nakagawa: Grammatical description of Sangir, an Austronesian language of Northen Sulawesi, Indonesia.
  3. Ms Jarinya Thammachoto. 2009. Dissertation title: ‘Objections and Objection Responses in Thai no-confidence debates 1997-2004’ (La Trobe University – completed).
Honours thesis supervision

NTU Honours (Final Year Project) supervision – 28 completed

  1. Oh Cheng Mun Andrea. 2019. Fluent in sarcasm: A sociopragmatic comparison of L1 and L2 English.
  2. Goh Xu Yao Jonathan. 2019. Using Gricean maxims in radio comedy: Context and characterization.
  3. Eu Min Niki Cassandra. 2019. He said what? A jaunty walk through the pragmatics of Tinder.
  4. Audi Arwani Binte Azlan. 2019. Analyzing the linguistic typology of ads on Quora.
  5. Chia Ai Ying. 2018. Phonology and phonetics of Singapore Hakka.
  6. Wong Hui Jun. 2018. Investigating intonation in tone languages.
  7. Chua Wee Lynn. 2018. A semantic analysis of verb serialization in Cantonese and Thai.
  8. Lye Huat Tan 2018. Application of Croft’s 2D geometric aspect model to Sinitic discourse data: Mandarin, Cantonese and Hokkien.
  9. Vanessa Chan Min Er. 2018. A typological study of Korean converbs.
  10. Minjoot Bernice Liane. 2017. Podi lah: Kristang in Singapore.
  11. Loy Kheng Wee. 2017. A sketch grammar of Singapore Hainanese.
  12. Goh Xiao Qing. 2015. A pragmatic analysis of pedestrian hashtag use on social media.
  13. Soh Jyr Minn. 2014. A Phonological and Phonetic Description of Shan Dialects.
  14. Chia Wei Shi, Stephen. 2014. Aspects of the grammar of Ngeq language.
  15. Heng Jia Yun Joanne. 2014. The effect of phonetic environment and formality of context on the realization of final /t/ and /d/ in word-final clusters.
  16. Quake Zhi Wan, Melissa. 2014. A phonological analysis of Mao.
  17. Trina Ng Jia Ying. 2014. Pragmatics of Discourse Particles in Singapore Colloquial English.
  18. Ang Hui Min.2013. Diachronic perspective on the grammaticalisation of Southern Min sentence-final particles.
  19. Hong Yu Qing Amelia. 2013 A phonological and phonetic description of Singapore Hokkien.
  20. Huang Qianting Kellie. 2013. Responding to compliments: A cross-cultural study of the CR strategies employed by Singaporean Chinese youths and their Chinese counterparts.
  21. Koh Shu Ping Daphne. 2013. Please?: An examination of request strategies employed by males and females in Singapore.
  22. See Ruoying. 2012. Linguistic accommodation through code-switching by English-Mandarin bilingual salespersons.
  23. Umapathy, Kanitha Angela Sibayan. 2012. Tamil, English and Singlish code-switching: Women talk.
  24. Chiang Chen Shan. 2012. A sketch grammar of Lotha.
  25. Tsai Meng Jung. 2012. Understanding advertising through pragmatics.
  26. Wong See Wah. 2011. Sound change of Cantonese in Singapore.
  27. Chor Wan Ting. 2011. A sketch grammar of Chang.
  28. Yeo, Pamela Yu Hui. 2011. A sketch grammar of Singapore Teochew.