Broadly speaking, the primary research focus of our lab group is the development of grammar systems in contact without another for a sustained period of time. Here we understand contact to loosely encompass a variety of environments and scenarios, which includes (but is certainly not limited to): the acquisition, maintenance, loss, and restructuring of heritage grammars, natural L2 acquisition and loss, trilingual (L3) language development and change, and steady contact between languages across the lifespan. We approach the study of language contact and change for a multitude of perspectives; engaging in synchronic as well as diachronic studies. Members of the lab are exposed to linguistically-oriented research from computational, experimental, formal, and functional perspectives, as we strongly feel that these multiple perspectives on investigating language contact and change significantly enrich our understanding of these complex phenomena. The languages and language families investigated by members of the lab are empirically diverse, thus aiding in providing a broad and encompassing view of various aspects of language contact and change.

Our lab group is affiliated with the Department of Germanic & Slavic Languages & Literatures, the Program in Linguistics, and the Center for Language Science at Penn State University.

Our lab group regularly meets to discuss issues related to language contact and change, and provides an opportunity for us to learn more about ongoing research by both members of the lab and beyond. All are welcome to attend, and if you would like to learn more about our lab group and our current research projects, presentations, and publications, feel free to explore our homepage or contact us via email!

Mike Putnam,
Director
mike.putnam@psu.edu