This research investigates Amazonian languages, and has several facets. One ongoing area of research involves investigating processes of language contact and change in South American languages. This work has involved loanwords, numeral systems, color terms, and grammatical structures over a wide range of languages. Other areas of research are primarily descriptive/documentary in nature, and focus on the materials Dr. Epps has collected over years of fieldwork on the northwest Amazonian languages Hup, Daw, and Nadeb. Projects include compiling dictionaries, working on pedagogical grammars, developing text collections from documentary materials, and organizing materials for archiving.
A knowledge of Spanish and/or Portuguese is very helpful, but is not essential for some parts of the work (focus varies by semester). Students should also have some background in linguistics, or at least a serious interest.
This work is ongoing. Some semesters are more active than others.
Students normally participate in weekly meetings, and otherwise work largely independently. Students are encouraged to sign up for Lin 357 (a research credit course that counts toward your total credit hours, though not toward the linguistics major).
