柯禕藍
Kellen Parker van Dam, PhD
Hello!
My name is Kellen Parker van Dam, 又叫作柯禕藍. I am a linguist specialising in Sino-Tibetan languages in the far Eastern Himālaya along the India / China / Myanmar border. I mostly work on language documentation, historical phonology, tonogenesis & tonoexodus, typology, the history of migration & social contact, the role of geography in the context of language, the creation of maps for communities, and the use of computational methods to those ends.
I am also actively engaged in community-focused capacity building including development and management of workshops in and around Notheast India.
The languages I work with most are part of the Patkaian ("Northern Naga") branch within Sino-Tibetan, including Tangsa-Nocte and Khiamniungic, however I'm also involved with a handful of communities elsewhere in Manipur, Nagaland, and Arunachal Pradesh.
This page serves as a snippet of a résumé for the purpose of making myself a little more searchable, for those who may be interested in the relevant research topics. I am always happy to talk to new people with an eye toward the Eastern Himālaya.
To get in touch, see the links at the bottom of the page.
current positions
Chair assistant / A.R.a.Z.
Universität Passau Passau, DE
2023.10
Associate Academic Director
Training and Resources for Indigenous Community Linguists (TRICL)
2020.01
Adjunct Research Fellow
Department of Languages & Cultures
La Trobe University,Melbourne, VIC, AU
2019.04
brief résumé
A quick overview of what else I've been up to. This is only a selection of items, and is already probably too long.
past conference presentations
Papers I've presented at conferences over the past few years, to give a better idea of some of my research interests.
2024
Hidden compounds and the importance of diachrony in synchronic description: The case of Khiamniungan21st International Congress of Linguists (ICL2024).Międzynarodowe Targi Poznańskie,Poznań, PLUnderstanding J. F. Needham’s 19th century description of Muishaung as a record of language change in the Eastern HimalayaLegacy materials as data sources for language description and documentation.Université Paris Cité,Paris, FR
The Structure of Chokrimi Society in Porba Village, Nagalandwith Thüküvelü Sakhamo†.First International Conference on Social Sciences (ICSS-1).Tharananellur Arts & Science College,Kerala, IN
Topographical sensitivity of verbs for “to go” in Thang, Wolam & Pounyiuwith Keen Thaam, Songmao Meyan, Methiam Thangjiu.4th International Conference of Tibeto-Burman Linguistics Association of North East India (ICTiBLANEI-4).Shillong, ML, IN
2023
On the Reconstructability of a Sal pronominal system56th International Conference on Sino–Tibetan Languages and Linguistics (ICSTLL56).Chulalongkorn University,Bangkok, THA first description of Wolam Ngio, a Khiamniungic language of Nagaland and Myanmarwith Keen Thaam.56th International Conference on Sino–Tibetan Languages and Linguistics (ICSTLL56).Chulalongkorn University,Bangkok, TH
Lexical phylogenies of under-described languages: Two case studies from Tibeto-BurmanOut of Asia workshop.Zürich, CH
A Bayesian phylogeny of Patkaian (Northern Naga)26th International Conference on Historical Linguistics (ICHL26).Heidelberg, DE
The potential areality of pitch-based word-level prominence marking in Kurmancîwith Shuan O. Karim†.6th International Conference on Kurdish Linguistics (ICKL-6).Frankfurt, DE
A first description of Kaisan, a Tibeto-Burman language of Myanmarwith Nora Muheim.26th Himalayan Languages Symposium (HLS26).Paris, FR
Toneme neutralisation in Tibeto-Burman iambic compoundsSpeech Units Workshop 2023 (SUW2023).Zürich, CH
A reconstruction of proto-Maringicwith Kanshouwa Susie.12th International Conference of North East Indian Linguistics Society (NEILS12).Guwahati, AS, IN
The position of Old Rupini: Analysing the linguistic evidence for a substratum reflecting Palaungic originswith Mery Rupini.12th International Conference of North East Indian Linguistics Society (NEILS12).Guwahati, AS, IN
A Bayesian phylogeny of Bodo-Garo: Testing novel methods on established groupings12th International Conference of North East Indian Linguistics Society (NEILS12).Guwahati, AS, IN
Developing Bayesian language phylogenies from previously published data: A case study of Bodo-GaroWorkshop on New Results and Methods in Reconstructing Population History.Zürich, CH*
Reduplicated intensifiers as Northeast areal featurewith Nora Muheim.3rd International Conference of Tibeto-Burman Linguistics Association of North East India (ICTiBLANEI-3).Silchar, AS, IN
Reconstructing subtribe names for identification on early 20th century maps of the Patkai range3rd International Conference of Tibeto-Burman Linguistics Association of North East India (ICTiBLANEI-3).Silchar, AS, IN*
2022
Semantic Splits in Northern Naga: Lexical disambiguation through partial sound changes in polysemes2nd International Conference of Tibeto-Burman Linguistics Association of North East India (ICTiBLANEI-2).Guwahati, AS, IN2021
A comparative account of the Jinghpaw lexicon in China, Myanmar and India: Evidence of the limited effects of language contactwith Kurabe Keita 倉部 慶太.6th Workshop on Sino-Tibetan Languages of Southwest China (STLS-2021).Kōbe, JP*Reduplication of intensifiers in Ollo (Laju) and Kasik (Khapa) Noctewith Bishakha Das.Workshop on ideophones and interjections.online
Demonstratives as sentential comparatives in Pangwa Tangsawith Dipjyoti Goswami.30th Annual Meeting of the Southeast Asian Linguistics Society (SEALS30).online
2020
Borrowing and re-borrowing in Southeast Asia: Complicating factors in historical reconstructionWorkshop on Tracing contact in closely related languages.Zürich, CHA diagnostic featural list for classification of varieties within Tangsa-Noctewith Syed Iftiqar Rahman.11th International Conference of North East Indian Linguistics Society (NEILS11).Kokrajhar, AS, IN
2019
Developing software for collaborative community-driven dictionaries of under-documented languages: An example with a large-volume Tai Phake dictionaryUppsala Language Documentation Group workshop (UPPLADOC2019).Uppsala, SEMaterial culture and agriculture in Tangsa (Naga) languages – Evidence from Tai borrowings and traditional song textswith Stephen Morey.24th International Conference on Historical Linguistics (ICHL24).Australian National University,Canberra, ACT, AU
Horsing around: The Complicated State of Tangsa-Nocte *aŋ Rhymes52nd International Conference on Sino-Tibetan Languages and Linguistics; 25th Himalayan Languages Symposium (ICSTLL52/HLS25).Sydney, NSW, AU
* Locations marked with an asterisk indicate talks which were attended remotedly.
† Daggers mark first authors on papers where I was not.
† Daggers mark first authors on papers where I was not.
invited talks
2024
Understanding Bayesian phylogenetic inferenceSummer School of Linguistics (Czechia).České Budějovice, CZ8.23Data collection and structuring for multilingual computational linguisticsSummer School of Linguistics (Czechia).České Budějovice, CZ08.21-08.22
Computationally-focused fieldwork with under-described languagesMax Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.Leipzig, SN, DE7.17
Bridging the gap between computational methods and language
documentationDepartment of General and Comparative Linguistics, Universität Regensberg.Regensburg, BY, DE6.06
2023
Research Methodology: Ethnography & Anthropological LinguisticsNagaland University.Talk given to the combined departments of Linguistics, Tenyidie, and History.Kohima, NL, IN8.18Developing & Maintaining Community-Driven Language Resources: Dictionaries & NarrativesWorkshop on Pedagogic Development.Organised by the Wancho Literary Mission with support from the Assam Rifles.Longding, AP, IN5.21
2022
Working with tone in Sino-Tibetan languages of Southeast AsiaAlbert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg.Linguistics Department colloquiumFreiburg im Breisgau, DE11.22The Cooperative Principle for academic writing: Grice's Maxims as a tool for authorsTiBLANEI.Presented at the Tibeto-Burman Linguistics Association of North East India Workshop on Academic Writing(online)7.15
2016
A crowd-sourced collaborative dictionary project for documentation of under-described languagesUniversity of Melbourne.ARC Centre of Excellence for the Dynamics of Language Tools & Methods SummitMelbourne, AU6.01Modifiers of Basic Colour Terms in Tangsa-NocteLa Trobe University.Seminar series at Centre for Research on Language DiversityMelbourne, AU5.04
2014
Fighting Language Loss in China – New Approaches to Dialect PreservationRoyal Asiatic Society.Shanghai, CN7.08Crowd Sourced Dialect Documentation & PreservationUnited International College.TEDx talkZhuhai, Guangdong, CN
recent managed workshops
2024
Productive Signs: Evolutionary, Typological, and Cognitive Dimensions of Word Families (focus stream).21st International Congress of Linguists. with Johann-Mattis List, Jessica Neider. Poznań2023
Workshop on Linguistic Tone. 7-Day International Workshop at the Department of Tenyidie, Nagaland University. Kohima, NagalandFuture-Ready Dictionary Development.Workshop hosted by the Anundoram Borooah Institute of Language, Art and Culture (ABILAC). with Palash Kumar Nath. Sponsored by the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) North East Region.Assam
teaching
2024
Kulturdokumentation und FeldforschungEine Analyse der Schlüsselfaktoren für gute Feldforschungsdokumentation: Kulturelle Vermittlung, das Abwägen von Objektivität und Subjektivität sowie praktische Video- und Audioaufzeichnungsfähigkeiten. Der Kurs vermittelt wichtige Kompetenzen für Medienberichterstattung, kulturelle Dokumentation und soziologische Feldforschung.Universität Passau 41624|2024|2024Sprache im Kontext von Mensch und KulturDieser Kurs erforscht die Rolle der menschlichen Sprache und Kommunikation in kulturellem Kontext sowie die Vielfalt der sprachlichen Interaktionen. Warum entwickeln sich Sprachen unterschiedlich? Welche Faktoren beeinflussen die Variation innerhalb einer Kultur? Beeinflusst deine Sprache deine Wahrnehmung der Welt? Durch die Analyse verschiedener Weltanschauungen lernen wir, wie alles begann.Universität Passau 41623|2024|2023
Kolloquium: Journal ClubJournal Club für Doktoranden/Post-docs der Multilingualen Computerlinguistik und der Digital Humanities. Universität Passau41619|2024
2023
Grundlagen des Programmierens für die LinguistikDer Kurs bietet eine Einführung in Grundlagen des Programmierens (Datenmanagement, Shellprogrammierung, Skriptsprachen wie Python und JavaScript, Visualisierung) für die vergleichende Sprachforschung. Er ist für alle Interessierten offen.Universität Passau41622|2023Grammar WritingSupervising a linguistic sketch grammar on a Sinitic variety of South China.Universität Zürich272-514|2023|2021