We are pleased to announce that Catherine Fortin, a Visiting Assistant Professor of Linguistics at Carleton since 2007, will be joining the Carleton Linguistics Department as Assistant Professor of Linguistics beginning in fall 2009. Professor Fortin earned her undergraduate degree from Tufts University, where she majored in French Language and Literature, with a minor in Economics. She earned a master’s degree in Linguistics, with a Certificate in American Indian Languages, from the University of Pittsburgh. Her Ph.D. is from the University of Michigan, where she worked primarily in the areas of syntax and semantics. Her dissertation is titled Indonesian Sluicing and Verb Phrase Ellipsis: Description and Explanation in a Minimalist Framework. In addition to her dissertation work on Indonesian, Professor Fortin has also worked on Moroccan Arabic and Minangkabau, a language which is spoken by members of a large matrilineal society in West Sumatra, Indonesia. At the University of Michigan, she was awarded the prestigious Rackham Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor Award. She will teach Linguistics 325: Syntax of an Unfamiliar Language in the fall of 2009.

We are very happy to announce that Cherlon Ussery will be joining the Carleton Linguistics Department for the 2009-2010 academic year. Professor Ussery earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, where she majored in Political Science and African and African American Studies. She earned a master’s degree in Linguistics from the University of South Carolina, Columbia. Professor Ussery is currently completing her Ph.D. at the University of Massachussetts, Amherst, where she is working primarily in the areas of syntax and the syntax-morphology interface. Her dissertation is on case and agreement patterns in Icelandic. Professor Ussery will teach three courses in 2009-2010: Ling 115: Introduction to the Theory of Syntax (4a fall term, no prerequisite), Ling 217: Phonetics and Phonology (4a winter term, prerequisite Ling 110), and an elective in the spring term.

Eve Clark, the Richard W. Lyman Professor & Professor of Linguistics at Stanford University, will present a public talk entitled 'How Children Acquire Meaning: Adult Offers and Child Uptake,' on Thursday, October 23rd, at 7 pm, in Olin 149. The talk is sponsored by the Elizabeth Nason Distinguished Women Visitors Fund, the Psychology Department, and the Linguistics Program. A brief abstract of the talk appears below.

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When young children encounter new words in the course of conversation, they appear to rely on several sources of information in assigning initial meanings and in supplementing those initial meanings. They rely on joint attention and physical co-presence to identify the speaker's intended referent (an object, an action, a property, a relation), and to conversational co-presence to supplement their initial mapping of meaning. The latter also offers a means to link new words to familiar words, and to assign each new word to the appropriate semantic domain(s). It is in conversation between adult and child that children learn how to talk about the world around them.

Linguistics alum Eden Kaiser ('03) will present a public talk, 'How Do We Learn to Talk Like Our Gender?' on Monday, 26 May, at 4pm, in Goodsell 03. A reception will follow.

Gwen Lewis (Neurolinguistics) will present her comps research on Thursday, May 22nd, at *4:30 pm* (note change of time) in CMC 210.

Gwen's talk is titled 'Spontaneous speech: A shocking response to electrical stimulation of the thalamus'. Spontaneous speech results from electrical stimulation of only the ventral anterior nucleus of the thalamus, making it a rare and unique phenomenon. This talk will outline a possible thalamic model of language that may explain this phenomenon.

A reception immediately follows the talk. All are invited to attend.

Linguistics alum Kathryn Flack Potts ('00) will present a public talk, 'Avoiding Ambiguity in Japanese and ASL,' on Friday, 16 May, at 4pm, in Goodsell 03. A reception will follow.