Sali Tagliamonte's CRC Grant is Renewed!

Sali Tagliamonte is one of Spring 2024's recipient of a Canada Research Chair (CRC) Grant renewal!

The renewal of this grant, which was confirmed earlier in June, awards $200,000 annually for 7 years to the University College linguist. 

For more information, see https://www.utoronto.ca/celebrates/14-u-t-researchers-awarded-new-or-renewed-canada-research-chairs or check out the relevant accounts: @salitag, or @theucprincipal, as well as:

X: @UC_UofT

Instagram: @uc_uoft; @theucprincipal

YouTube: @UC_UofT

Facebook: @universitycollegetoronto

LinkedIn: @University of Toronto - University College

Congratulations once more to Sali, and best of luck in the future!

Language Research Day - BAM!

On Monday, June 3rd, the University of Toronto hosted Language Research Day (LRD), a student-led academic conference designed to facilitate interaction and learning among graduate students in the field of language research. 

Spanning campuses, languages, and levels of inquiry, this hybrid conference hosted over 100 in-person and virtual attendees.

Professor and Linguistics Department Chair Naomi Nagy gave the opening keynote, (Heritage) Russian case-marking: Variation and paths of change.

Dr. Craig Chambers, a joint PhD in Cognitive Science and Linguistics, gave the closing keynote, Where and how does nonlinguistic cognition fit into language abilities? This presentation was drawn from a cross-sectional study on real-time language processing, and aids in the complete understanding of the "mental architecture supporting language abilities across the human lifespan."

One other Linguistics Dept member presented: PhD student Nick Haggarty, who was featured in June's spotlight on Queer Linguistics.

Other University of Toronto departments in attendance included Speech Language Pathology, Psychology, and Near & Middle Eastern Civilizations, making up a participation as diverse as the languages discussed at the conference. 

The Linguistics Department, in part responsible for funding the event, was also represented by Pedro Mateo Pedro, as well as Angelika Kiss, who helped organize, and recently defended her PhD thesis (to be covered on the blog soon)!

To see more information, check out BAM's Instagram page or the #LRD2024.

We look forward to seeing the development of this exciting event in 2025!

2023-2024 Cowper and Dresher Prizes - Congratulations Calvin and Yanfei!

Named after two emeriti professors in Linguistics Department, Elizabeth Cowper and Elan Dresher, the Cowper and Dresher Prizes are distinguished awards for graduate students of Linguistics. 

The 2023-2024 winners were announced earlier in June 2024.

Calvin Quick, a PhD student interested in Mediaeval Welsh poetry, won the Cowper Prize for his papers “Tense and finiteness in embedded bod-clauses” and “Problematizing Linear Approaches to Modifier-Head Adjacency Restrictions.”

For her paper, “An OT Analysis of Stress Patterns of Oneida (Iroquoian)” Yanfei Lu was awarded the Dresher Prize, a recognition within the LIN department for outstanding graduate student work in Phonology.

Yanfei Lu, winner of the
Dresher Prize.

We are so proud of both the students, congratulations!

Linguist Kathleen Wynne on Aging

 You might enjoy this article, written by former Premier and linguistics student, Kathleen Wynne.

WOTY (Word of the Year)

Two of our very own linguists, Dr. Barend Beekhuizen and Dr. María Cristina Cuervo, appeared in the media recently to talk about the Oxford University Press Word Of The Year "rizz".

If you are not familiar with the word "rizz", we have good news! Barend (on CP24) and Cristina (on 640 Toronto Radio) offer insight into what the word means, who is using it, and how it may have emerged in the language.

Check out the links below for more information.

Barend's conversation with Bakari Savage and Lindsay Biscaia on CP24: https://www.cp24.com/video?clipId=2821900

Cristina's conversation with Ben Mulroney on 640 Toronto Radio: 

Barend weighs in on "The practical magic of the ‘girl’ prefix"

 For a Globe & Mail article about changing language (and Gen Z trends), Asst. Prof Barend Beekhuizen weighed in with his linguistic expertise. Check out a fun story and find his quote here:

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-amplify-the-practical-magic-of-the-girl-prefix/ 

Linguist in the Olympics!

Paul Poirier (MA) is proof that we linguists can also double as superstar athletes!

Paul and his partner Piper Gilles will be representing Canada for ice dancing in the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing! 

The Department of Linguistics will be cheering on Paul and Piper as they (ice) dance for the gold! 

UofT Linguist Involved with the Jackman Humanities Institute!

Professor Ana Perez-Leroux is a part of the Jackman Humanities Institute Alumni Research Lecture Series! Perez-Leroux video, Telling the Story of Another Vaccine, covers how the people of the Dominican Republic came together to fight against polio. This is a great way to learn about the largest volunteer organization in the DR! Plus, the topic is fitting for the time we are in!

Sali on The Sunday Magazine

Sali A. Tagliamonte (faculty) has been interviewed lately on CBC Radio's The Sunday Magazine, talking about variation between Canadian English words for summer properties outside the city.

Andrea and John in the U of T News

Andrea Johns (BA) and Ryan DeCaire (faculty) have been highlighted in the U of T News in conjunction with the First Nations House's graduation celebration. Andrea, who will be graduating in June, learned Kanien’kéhai/Mohawk and founded the Indigenous Languages Club while a student here, receiving recognition in 2019 from President Meric Gertler.

Huberta in the U of T Magazine

In the latest issue of the U of T magazine, Huberta Chan (BA 2019) talks about a pivotal moment in her undergraduate education, which had been made possible by the U of T (Hong Kong) Foundation.

Huberta Chan (BA 2019 UC) received a foundation scholarship to study linguistics. She recalls that on the first day of her sociolinguistics class, the professor asked each student to introduce themselves with their name and the languages they spoke. 'The moment I demonstrated how to say hello in Cantonese was the very first time I was aware of feeling proud to be a native Cantonese speaker from Hong Kong," says Chan. "I had never appreciated the fact that I was bilingual."

She says her classmates spoke with similar pride about their own languages and cultures, and she grew interested in learning more about them. "My professor taught us that every language is special because behind each one are the culture and stories unique to the people who speak it," she says. "This is an idea I treasure to this day."

Myrto in Arts and Science News

Myrto Grigoroglou (faculty) has been interviewed for the Arts and Science News talking about her research and the roots of the modern subfield of language acquisition. Check it out!

Nathan on Word to the Whys

Nathan Sanders (faculty) has recently been featured on Word to the Whys, which is a podcast created by a collective of linguistics instructors in Canada. In this episode, 'Why we do phonetics', Catherine Anderson (McMaster University) interviews Nathan about his research, particularly as involving phonetics and sign languages. (In the opposite direction, Nathan interviews Catherine about language acquisition here!)

Ryan at TEDxToronto

Ryan DeCaire (faculty) is giving a talk for TEDxToronto's virtual "Uncharted" lecture series on Thursday, March 4, as part of a session from 7 PM to 8:30 PM, and a recording will become available in the coming months. More details can be found here!

Lex in Arts and Science News

Lex Konnelly (Ph.D.) is in the Arts and Science News this week talking about their 2020 paper in Language and Communication on the discourse of craft beer.

Derek at TEDxUofT

Derek Denis (faculty) is giving a talk about Multicultural Toronto English for an afternoon panel hosted by TEDxUofT on Friday, January 29, from 1:30 PM to 4:00 PM. More details at the link!

Ai and Julie on Words to the Whys

Ai Taniguchi (faculty) has recently been featured on Word to the Whys, a podcast produced by a collective of introductory linguistics instructors in Canada. In her episode, 'Why we do semantics', Ai is interviewed by Julie Doner (Ph.D. 2019) about what semantics is, how she took an interest, what it means for languages and dialects to make sense, and why we put a plural suffix on 'zero chairs' even though there aren't any. Check it out!

Adeiza and students in Arts and Science News

Sociolinguist Adeiza Isiaka (postdoc, Department of French and Department of Spanish and Portuguese) and two of his students have been interviewed for Arts and Science News on the subject of Adeiza's new first-year seminar, Urban Youth Languages of the World (FCS194H1).

Ryan interviewed by Shankhalika in the Innis Herald

Ryan DeCaire (faculty) has recently been interviewed in the Innis Herald by Shankhalika Srikanth (BA) on the subject of Kanien'kéha (Mohawk), Indigenous language revitalization, and settler-Indigenous relations.

Naomi on the Linguist List

Naomi Nagy (faculty) is this week's Featured Linguist on the Linguist List newsletter. Check out the link for more!