Lobi vowel shifts in plural contexts
Hannah Sande, Professor
Linguistics
Applications for Spring 2026 are closed for this project.
This project aims to document, describe, analyze, write up, and possibly present and publish about the morphophonology of plural marking in Lobi, a Gur language spoken in West Africa. Plural morphology in Lobi is likely historically related to a noun class system, though synchronically there are no longer noun-class-like features of the system, and instead nouns seem to be marked by an /-a/ suffix and/or a vowel shift for a plural reading. The specific nature of the vowel shift in plural contexts has not previously been described or analyzed, a gap which this project aims to address.
Role: The undergraduate research assistant for this project would be involved in summarizing what has previously been said about plural morphology in Lobi, then eliciting data (alongside the PI) with a Lobi speaker in order to document this phenomenon. Then the undergrad would sort the data into tables of like forms and collaborate with the PI to propose an analysis of the facts. The undergraduate may also be involved in writing up the findings for a research presentation and/or publication.
Qualifications: The student should have taken Ling 111 (Phonology) and/or Ling 115 (Morphology) and should have an interest in language documentation, description, and analysis. Even better if the student has familiarity with Lobi or other West African languages, or if they can read French (since most of the previous literature on Lobi is written in French).
Hours: 3-5 hrs
Social Sciences