Andrew Abdalian

Postdoctoral fellow

American Philosophical Society

Biography

I am a post-doc working on building a complete corpus of Tunica language documentation for use in a collaborative language revitalization initiative with the Tunica-Biloxi Tribe of Louisiana. My research revolves around language revitalization, language change, language documentation, and the creation and use of digital tools for language learning and analysis.

Interests

Language revitalization
Language change
Digital pedagogy

Education

PhD in Linguistics, 2023
Tulane University
MA in Linguistics, 2019
Tulane University
BA in Linguistics, 2006
Swarthmore College

Featured Publication

Andrew Abdalian, Craig Alcantara, Patricia Anderson, John Barbry, Meg Harvey, Raina Heaton, Mary Kate Kelly, Judith M. Maxwell, Brett C. Nelson, Donna Pierite, Elisabeth Pierite, Mackenzie Walters, Nathan Wendte

2023 Indiana University Press

Rowinataworu Luhchi Yoroni / Tunica Language Textbook

For many years, the Tunica-Biloxi Tribe of Louisiana collaborated with students and faculty at Tulane University on a project to revitalize the Tunica language. Tunica had not been spoken or used regularly in the community since the last known speaker, Sesostrie Youchigant, passed away in 1948. The center of the revitalization of the Tunica language is this first-of-its-kind, beginning Tunica language textbook.

Other Publications

Andrew Abdalian (2024). Alleviating Authenticity Concerns in Tunica Language Reclamation. Proceedings of the 39th West Coast Conference on Formal Linguistics.

PDF Cite Project Poster

Andrew Abdalian (2023). Tunica at dusk and dawn: Language change in obsolescence and revival. Ph.D. diss., Tulane University.

Cite Project URL

Lisa Sprowls, Andrew Abdalian (2019). Backhowsa. 64 Parishes.

Cite URL

Tom Lewis, Jarrette K. Allen, Andrew Abdalian (2019). Language Use in Post-Colonial & Transnational Contexts. Fleur de Ling, Vol. 4. MIT Working Papers in Linguistics.

Cite

Recent talks

From linguistic analysis to public engagement: Improving community access to Tunica language documentation

This presentation explores how the Tunica Language Working Group has responded to the community’s desire to access and engage with historical Tunica language documentation, and the successes and challenges of publicly presenting the language documentation transcribed, parsed, and analyzed in SIL’s Fieldworks Language Explorer (FLEx).

Sep 5, 2024 Language Documentation and Archiving Conference Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities (via videoconference)

Andrew Abdalian

Challenges and Successes in Collaborative Language Revival: A Case Study of the Tunica Language Working Group

This talk discusses the structure of the Tunica revitalization effort and the methods that are used to maximize the effectiveness of a five-person Language & Culture Revitalization Program and a small group of linguistics volunteers.

Dec 7, 2023 LIPP-Symposium Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (via videoconference)

Andrew Abdalian

Linguistic aspects of language obsolescence

Nov 18, 2022 Guest lecture: Language death Tulane University

Andrew Abdalian

Community-Engaged Scholarship and Language Revitalization

Feb 8, 2022 Guest lecture: Structure of Tunica University of Virginia (via videoconference)

Andrew Abdalian

Demystifying the Reclamation of Reawakening Languages: A Case Study of Tunica

This talk looks at the design of a series of workshops aimed at demystifying the processes behind reawakening the language Tunica and providing community members a variety of ways to participate in the process as innovators and creators, even if they don’t have time to devote to consistent participation.

Mar 6, 2021 ICLDC 7 University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa (via videoconference)

Elisabeth Pierite, Donna Pierite, Meg Harvey, Andrew Abdalian, Tyler A. Whitaker, N.A. Wendte

See all talks

Projects

Tunica Language Project

A collaboration between the Tunica-Biloxi Language & Culture Revitalization Program (LCRP) and Tulane University’s Interdisciplinary Program in Linguistics working to revitalize the Tunica language.

English linguistics

Work on English dialects and their phenomena.

Louisiana French

An effort to document and analyze the varieties of French spoken in Louisiana.

Experience

Mellon Foundation Native American Scholars Initiative (NASI) Postdoctoral Fellow

American Philosophical Society

August 2024 – Present Philadephia, Pennsylvania

Data Annotator

BOLD

August 2023 – July 2024

Analyzed and tagged data for a resume and job-matching project

English Linguistic Consultant

celi, s.r.l.

September 2018 – April 2019 Torino, Italy

Analyzed and tagged data for a Natural Language Understanding project

Linguist

Tunica-Biloxi Tribe of Louisiana

September 2017 – August 2018 Marksville, Louisiana

Developed language teaching curriculum
Taught Tunica language classes
Helped develop a successful grant plan for a mentor-apprentice program to teach Tunica-Biloxi adults the Tunica language
Helped organize the Tunica-Biloxi Language and Culture Summer Camp