University of Calgary

Darin Flynn

  • Associate Professor

Undergraduate advising in Linguistics:

For questions or concerns related to the undergraduate program in Linguistics or Linguistics and Language, please use the below e-mail:

lingadv@ucalgary.ca

Note - For questions regarding language instruction, please contact the individual language advisors directly
 

Research Interests

Research:

My primary area of research is phonology, that is, I am interested in how speakers organize speech sounds. By investigating how speakers manipulate information relating to articulation, voicing, pitch and stress, especially in very different languages, we can learn much about our faculty of language, hence about the human mind. Being a phonologist in Western Canada is rewarding because there is a rich but relatively understudied linguistic heritage here. Calgary is surrounded by First Nations languages from very different language families: Tsuut'ina (Sarcee) is a Dene/Athabaskan language; Blackfoot and Plains Cree are Algonquian languages; and Stoney is a Siouan language. Other Albertan languages include Dunne-za (Beaver), Dene Tha' (Slavey), Dëne Sųłiné (Chipewyan), and Anishinaabe (Ojibway). Neighbouring British Columbia is home to no less than thirty languages representing eight different language families or isolates. One of these families, viz. Wakashan, has been my object of study for many years. I am also interested in sociolinguistics. Of special interest to me are questions of language endangerment and language contact.

Teaching:

In Winter 2016 I'll be teaching LING 403 - Phonology II and LING 613 - Advanced Phonological Analysis I. In Fall 2016, I'll teach LING 303 - Phonology I and LING 505/605 - Field Methods (Tsuut'ina). In Winter 2017, I'll teach LING 531 - Survey of Aboriginal Languages of North America and INDG 205 - Introduction to Tsuut'ina (with fluent elder).

Supervising:

Philothe Kabasele. PhD thesis: Morphophonological Variations in Kinshasa Lingala: A Comparative Study. Expected completion Summer 2018

Mohammad Alsamani. PhD thesis: On Arabic Loanwords in Swahili. Expected completion Summer 2018

Joey Windsor. PhD thesis: The Demonstrative Phrase: Prosodic and Syntactic Evidence from Irish, Blackfoot, and Michif. Expected completion Summer 2016

Sameera Allihibi. PhD thesis: The Feminine in Syrian Arabic: Phonology, Morphology, Psycholinguistics. Expected completion Spring 2016

Recent Supervising:

Kelly Murphy. PhD thesis: Melodies of Hawai’i: The Relationship between Hawai’i Creole English and Olelo Hawai’i Prosody. Defense: September 2013.

Ashley Burnett. PhD thesis: Enclisis in Early Old French. Defense September 2011.

Joey Windsor. MA thesis: When Nothing Exists: The Role of Zero in the Prosodic Hierarchy. Defense July 2012.

Emily Elfner. MA thesis: The Mora in Blackfoot. Defense August 2006

Corey Telfer. MA thesis: Coronalization as Assibilation. Defense April 2006

Elizabeth Stacy. MA thesis: Phonological Aspects of Blackfoot Prominence. Defense August 2004

Rein Sastok. Honours thesis: The Problem of Estonian Quantity. April 2013.

Jen Grond. Honours thesis: Q is not a Word: A Critical Review of Artificial Language Research. April 2013.

Jessi L. Cobler. Honours thesis: You had Me at Muktuk: A Preliminary Exploration of the Internet as a Tool for Linguistic Research on Inuit Youth Language. April 2013.

Niah Colburn. Honours thesis: The Role of Geminates in the Syllable Structure of Tashlhiyt Berber: A Moraic Analysis. April 2011.

Joey Windsor. Honours thesis: Phono-Morpho-Syntax and All Points in Between: Irish Lenitions and the Prosodic Phrase. April 2010.

Karine Dupuis. Honours thesis: Vowel Coalescence and Neutralization in Québec French. April 2008.

Deanna Jager. Honours thesis: Length in Blackfoot. April 2005.

Emily Elfner. Honours thesis: The Role of Sonority in Blackfoot Phonotactics. April 2004.

Corey Telfer. Honours thesis: Palatalisation in Dakota. April 2003.

Publications

Book Chapters/Contributions - Peer Reviewed

Journal Article

Journal Articles - Peer Reviewed

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