Linguistics research in the School looks into the nature of language as a manifestation of human cognition and social interaction. Most of our linguistic research falls within the theme of ‘Change in Language and Society’. The changes we investigate can take place over very long time periods (‘Deep Time’), or within and between generations of speakers over the human life span (‘Shallow Time’), or as language use unfolds in particular discourse and interactional contexts (‘in real time’).
Linguists at UQ are engaged in projects that investigate theoretical questions about the nature of language through investigating one language, comparing across languages, or examining languages in contact with each other.
Much of our research examines language structure and use in Australian contexts from the description of Australian First Nations languages to Australian English, to the heritage languages of migrants to Australia.
The School makes a strong contribution to raising awareness, both within Indigenous communities and among the Australian public in general, of the significance of Australian Indigenous Languages, including new languages, and to the documentation, learning and teaching of these languages. Projects are mostly conducted in collaboration with particular language communities.
Featured projects | Duration |
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Something old, something new: Indigenous languages since colonization ARC Future Fellowship |
2018–2022 |
Saibai Island Language and Cultural Knowledge Project Australian Research Council |
2017–2019 |
Lexical splits: a novel perspective on the structure of words (Arts & Humanities Research Council Grant administered by Uni of Surrey) Arts & Humanities Research Council Grant administered by Uni of Surrey |
2016–2019 |
Humor in Taiwan Chiang Ching-Kuo Foundation for International Scholarly Exchange |
2016–2019 |
Talking knowledge, doing learning: the early years ARC Discovery Projects |
2015–2018 |
High-definition carbon-dating of linguistic pasts ARC Discovery Early Career Researcher Award |
2015–2018 |
Trilingual language contact in an Indigenous community ARC Discovery Projects |
2014–2017 |
Out of the Mouthes of Babes ARC Discovery Early Career Researcher Award |
2013–2017 |