Our Activity:
Funding, Publications, Presentations
Last updated: April 2025
AWARDS AND FUNDING
2024
Hidden Stories: Documenting Chin Linguistic and Cultural Diversity in Indiana. Allen Whitehill Clowes Charitable Foundation. Co-PIs Kelly Berkson and Jon Kay. $82,500. Fall 2024 to December 2026.
Indianapolis Chin Community Language Survey. Henry Luce Foundation (Asia Program). PI Kelly Berkson. $50,000. Summer 2024.
2022
Lutuv Literacy and Linguistics: A Dual-purpose Language Resource for Scholarly and Community Use. Social Science Research Funding Program award from the Office of the Vice Provost for Research, Indiana University Bloomington. $32,838. Fall 2022 through Spring 2023.
The Chin Folklife Project: Stage 1 - Community Engagement and Planning. Seed funding for the Humanities Without Walls Grand Research Challenge on “Reciprocity and Redistribution”, distributed through the College Arts and Humanities Institute, Indiana University Bloomington. Co-PIs Kelly Berkson and Jon Kay (Folklore and Ethnomusicology, director of Traditional Arts Indiana). $14,057. Summer 2022.
Chin Languages Research Project - Summer 2022 Research Internship Program. Undergraduate Research - Office of Engaged Learning, Indiana University. $17,500. Summer 2022.
2021
Summer research funding award to support 6 Chin students. IU Undergraduate Research Office of Engaged Learning. $15,000. Summer 2021
2020
“RAPID: Collaborative Research: Providing useable COVID-19 health information to linguistically underserved people.” National Science Foundation. Kelly Berkson, PI $68,875. May 2020 -October 2021. (Collaborative award to UNT, PI Shobhana Chelliah and Co-PI Sara Champlin, $85,774.00., May 2020 and transferred to IU till August 2024).
Post-baccalaureate research assistant funding for the Chin Languages Research Project. IU Undergraduate Research Office of Engaged Learning. $3000
2019
“Chin Languages and Linguistics in the Indianapolis Burmese Refugee Community.” IU Social Science Research Commons Seed Grant. $8,430.
“Chin Languages Research Project Summer 2019 Research Internship Program.” IU Undergraduate Research Office of Engaged Learning. $4,060.
2018
“Building a Hakha Chin Corpus.” Ostrom Grant, Indiana University, Bloomington. Co-PIs Kelly Berkson and Sandra Kuebler. $7920.
PUBLICATIONS
Books, and Chapters in Edited Volumes
2023
Van Bik, K. and K. Berkson, editors. Hre Lian Kio’s “Animism in the Chin Hills.” Edited volume. Editing undertaken at the request of the original author and the larger Chin community. (Local publisher, Chin community of Indianapolis.)
Berkson, K, J.C. Wamsley, S. Lotven, S. Chelliah, K. Van Bik, S. Champlin, K. Sakhong, S. H. Par, A. Matthews, A. Bohnert. A developing community of collaboration in Indiana. In Murray B., Brill-Carlat M., Höhn M. (eds), Migration Displacement and Higher Education. Political Pedagogies. Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-12350-4_2
Articles
2025
Bohnert, A. The Lutuv (Lautu) Verbal Agreement System. Indiana Working Papers in South Asian Languages and Cultures, 4(1). https://doi.org/10.14434/iwpsalc2025.v4i1.40993
Benavides, J. Polar Questions in Hnaring Lutuv (Lautu) Chin. Indiana Working Papers in South Asian Languages and Cultures, 3(1). https://doi.org/10.14434/iwpsalc2022.v3i1.41293
2024
Grano, T, G. Ziegler, A. Bohnert, E. Hanink, K. Berkson, S. Chelliah, and S. H. Par. (2024). Irrealis expressions and modality: A response to von Prince Krajinović and Krifka. Language 100(2), e84-e93. https://dx.doi.org/10.1353/lan.2024.a929755.
2023
Gray, R. and J. Benavides. WH-question formation in Hnaring Lutuv. Indiana Working Papers in South Asian Languages and Cultures, 3(1). https://doi.org/10.14434/iwpsalc2022.v3i1.36579
Smith, D. T. Preverbal Directional Particles in Lutuv. Indiana Working Papers in South Asian Languages and Cultures, 3(1). https://doi.org/10.14434/iwpsalc2022.v3i1.36599
Kovalev, P. Actor Marking in Hnaring Lutuv (Lautu) Chin. Indiana Working Papers in South Asian Languages and Cultures, 3(1). https://doi.org/10.14434/iwpsalc2022.v3i1.37053
2022
Berkson, K., & Par, S. H. Hnaring Lutuv squibs: Situating the language and the volume. Indiana Working Papers in South Asian Languages and Cultures, 3(1), 1-3. https://doi.org/10.14434/iwpsalc2022.v3i1.34563
Berkson, K., Bohnert, A., & Par, S. H. Consonant sounds in Hnaring Lutuv. Indiana Working Papers in South Asian Languages and Cultures, 3(1), 1-4. https://doi.org/10.14434/iwpsalc2022.v3i1.35442
Bohnert, A., Berkson, K., & Par, S. H. Vowel sounds in Hnaring Lutuv. Indiana Working Papers in South Asian Languages and Cultures, 3(1), 1-3. https://doi.org/10.14434/iwpsalc2022.v3i1.3544
Robinson, A. Standard sentential negation in basic declarative utterances in Hnaring Lutuv. Indiana Working Papers in South Asian Languages and Cultures, 3(1), 1-3. https://doi.org/10.14434/iwpsalc2022.v3i1.35446
Ziegler, G. Tenselessness in Hnaring Lutuv. Indiana Working Papers in South Asian Languages and Cultures, 3(1), 1-3 https://doi.org/10.14434/iwpsalc2022.v3i1.35584
2020
Lotven, S., Berkson, K., Wamsley, J. C., Danaher, J., Van Bik, K., & Davis, S. The syllable in Kuki-Chin. Journal of South Asian Languages and Linguistics, 6(2), 281-308. https://doi.org/10.1515/jsall-2019-2014
Ngaihte, C. N., Holliday, J. J., & Berkson, K. H. Some temporal and spectral properties of Paite obstruents. Studies in Phonetics, Phonology, and Morphology, 26(2), 341-363. https://phonology.jams.or.kr/co/main/jmMain.kci
Haza, J., & Wagner, A. Adpositions in Lutuv. Indiana Working Papers in South Asian Languages & Cultures (IWPSALC), 2(1), 12-17. https://doi.org/10.14434/iwpsalc2020.v2i1.31581
Lotven, S. Lexical correspondences between Proto-Kuki-Chin, Hakha Lai, and six Maraic varieties. Indiana Working Papers in South Asian Languages & Cultures, (IWPSALC), 2(1), 31-39. https://doi.org/10.14434/iwpsalc2020.v2i1.30891
Lotven, S. Some diachronic phonological changes from Proto-Kuki-Chin to Lutuv. Indiana Working Papers in South Asian Languages & Cultures (IWPSALC), 2(1), 18-30. https://doi.org/10.14434/iwpsalc2020.v2i1.30890
Matthews, A., & Wamsley, J. A brief report on the demonstrative system of Hnaring Lutuv. Indiana Working Papers in South Asian Languages & Cultures (IWPSALC), 2(1), 1-11. https://scholarworks.iu.edu/journals/index.php/iwpsalc/article/view/31104
Wamsley, J.C., Sakhong, K., & Lotven, S. Nuitah Zophei Swadesh list. Indiana Working Papers in South Asian Languages & Cultures (IWPSALC), 2(1), 40-43. https://doi.org/10.14434/iwpsalc2020.v2i1.31160
2019
Berkson, K., Lotven, S., Thang, P.H., Thawngza, T., Sung, Z. , Wamsley, J., Tyers, F., Van Bik, K., Kübler, S., Williamson, D., & Anderson, M. Building a Common Voice Corpus for Laiholh (Hakha Chin). Proceedings of the 3rd Workshop on Computational Methods for Endangered Languages: Vol. 2, Article 2. Available at: https://scholar.colorado.edu/scil-cmel/vol2/iss1/2
Danaher, J. Verbal characteristics of Adjectives in Hakha Chin. Indiana Working Papers in South Asian Languages & Cultures (IWPSALC), 1(1), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.14434/iwpsalc2019.v1i1.27457
Flego, S. Internally-headed relative clauses in Hakha Chin. Indiana Working Papers in South Asian Languages & Cultures (IWPSALC), 1(1), 1-17. https://doi.org/10.14434/iwpsalc2019.v1i1.27450
Lotven, S., & Berkson, K. A vowel space comparison of Tlawngrang Zophei and Lawngtlang Zophei. Indiana Working Papers in South Asian Languages and Cultures, 1(1), 1-15. https://doi.org/10.14434/iwpsalc2019.v1i1.27462
Lotven, S., Par, S. H., Wamsley, J. C., & Berkson, K. Hnaring Lutuv Swadesh list. Indiana Working Papers in South Asian Languages and Cultures, 1(1), 1-4. https://doi.org/10.14434/iwpsalc2019.v1i1.27747
Lotven, S., Sung, Z., Wamsley, J. C., & Berkson, K. Lawngtlang Zophei Swadesh list. Indiana Working Papers in South Asian Languages and Cultures, 1(1), 1-4. https://doi.org/10.14434/iwpsalc2019.v1i1.27461
Lee, S. S., & Berkson, K. Speech-rate effects in a 3-category language: Evidence from Hakha Chin. Indiana Working Papers in South Asian Languages and Cultures, 1(1), 1-20. https://doi.org/10.14434/iwpsalc2019.v1i1.27453
Merritt, H. Embodied grammaticalizations of time in Hakha Chin: Ka hnu and hmai. Indiana Working Papers in South Asian Languages & Cultures (IWPSALC), 1(1), 1-6. https://doi.org/10.14434/iwpsalc2019.v1i1.27463
Wamsley, J. C. Demonstratives and the noun phrase structure of Hakha Chin. Indiana Working Papers in South Asian Languages & Cultures (IWPSALC), 1(1), 1-17. https://doi.org/10.14434/iwpsalc2019.v1i1.27454
Yandt, G. Variation and culture in Laiholh psycho-collocations. Indiana Working Papers in South Asian Languages & Cultures (IWPSALC), 1(1), 1-18. https://doi.org/10.14434/iwpsalc2019.v1i1.27459
Electronic Resources
2020
Berkson, K. H., and members of the Chin Languages Research Team (bios at https://www.chinlanguages.org/our-team) (2020). COVID-19 informational materials in Hakha Lai. Ongoing effort to translate COVID-19-related materials into Hakha Lai, the language spoken by approx. half of Indiana’s large Burmese refugee community. Local pastors and organizations pass requests for information on to our team. All materials are hosted online at https://www.chinlanguages.org/ and are disseminated via social media.
2018
Berkson, K.H., Thang P. H., Thawngza, T., Sung, Z., Tyers, F., and additional graduate and undergraduate students. (2018). “Laiholh component of Mozilla’s Common Voice Project.” Available at https://voice.mozilla.org/cnh. Data collection platform being used to develop a spoken Laiholh corpus which will eventually contribute to the development of voice recognition technology for Laiholh/Hakha Chin.
PRESENTATIONS
2025
Berkson, K., S.H. Par, G. Ziegler, A. Bohnert, and D. T. Smith. We all win: Leveraging Academic Resources to Support Cultural and Linguistic Continuity in the Chin Diaspora Community of Indianapolis. Invited talk, Virginia Tech. Blacksburg, VA. February 27, 2025.
Berkson, K., S. H. Par, H. Hunt, V. N. Par, E. Singleton, A. Robinson, J. Kay, E. Hanink, S. Lotven, G. Ziegler, A. Bohnert, E. Em, D. Smith, J. C. Wamsley, E. Hnem, R. Mawi, R. Nem, C. L. Mang. The Chin Languages Research Project – A Community of Collaboration in Indiana. Oral presentation, Integrating Voices Humanities Conference on Refugee and Immigrant Studies. Mercer University; Macon, Georgia. April 5, 2025.
Smith, D., A. Bohnert, A. Robinson, G. Ziegler, S. H. Par, E. Em, H. Hunt, V. N. Par, E. Singleton, E. Hnem, J. C. Wamsley, E. Hanink, K. Berkson. The Indianapolis Chin Community Language Survey. Oral presentation, Integrating Voices Humanities Conference on Refugee and Immigrant Studies. Mercer University; Macon, Georgia. April 5, 2025.
S. H. Par, A. Bohnert, D. Smith, E. Em, H. Hunt, V. N. Par, E. Singleton, E. Hanink, G. Ziegler, E. Hnem, R. Mawi, R. Nem, R. Sung, N. Nuam, C. L. Mang. Social Media as a Tool for Language Maintenance in Diaspora. Oral presentation, Integrating Voices Humanities Conference on Refugee and Immigrant Studies. Mercer University; Macon, Georgia. April 5, 2025.
Par, S. H., J. Kay, and K. Berkson. Migration and Cultural Continuity: Lutuv Dress, Adornment, and Foodways in Diaspora. Oral presentation, Integrating Voices Humanities Conference on Refugee and Immigrant Studies. Mercer University; Macon, Georgia. April 5, 2025.
2024
Hunt, H., V. N. Par, and Em M. Hnem. (Dec. 2024). Faculty mentor: K. Berkson. "The Chin Languages Research Project Community Language Survey." IU Undergraduate Research Conference (IUURC). IU Indianapolis.
Par, S.H., J. Kay, K. Berkson. Nov. 2024. Migration and Cultural Continuity. Poster presented at HLS Global & Area Perspectives (GAP) Symposium, IU Bloomington.
Smith, D., J. Wamsley, G. Ziegler, A. Robinson, A Bohnert, E. Em, S. Par,, V. Par, E. Hnem, N. Nuam, E. Singleton, H. Hunt, E. Hanink, K. Berkson. Nov. 2024. The Indianapolis Chin Community Language Survey. Poster presented at HLS Global & Area Perspectives (GAP) Symposium, IU Bloomington.
Ziegler, G., Bohnert, A., Berkson, K. H., & Par, S. H. An ultrasound investigation of Hnaring Lutuv (high?) vowels. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 155 (3_Supplement), A170-A170. May 2024, Ottawa, Canada. https://doi.org/10.1121/10.0027202
Berkson, K. H., Ziegler, G., Bohnert, A., & Van Bik, K. Vowel quantity/quality redux: Revisiting vowel contrasts in Hakha Lai monophthongs. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 155 (3_Supplement), A170-A170. May 2024, Ottawa, Canada. https://doi.org/10.1121/10.0027200
Bohnert, A., Berkson, K. H., Van Bik, K., & Ziegler, G. Vocalic contrasts in Zotung. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 155 (3_Supplement), A170-A170. May 2024, Ottawa, Canada. https://doi.org/10.1121/10.0027201
Grano, T., G. Ziegler, A. Bohnert, E. Hanink, K. Berkson, S. Chelliah, & S. H. Par. Irrealis and modality: A view from Lutuv. Poster presented at the 2024 Annual Meeting of the Linguistics Society of America. New York, N.Y. January 2024.
Berkson, K., J. Goodlander, J. Kay, K. Van Bik, M. Temkin-Martinez. Empowering Displaced Communities through Language and Culture. 90-minute panel, inaugural HLS Global & Area Perspectives (GAP) Symposium. (Proposed by Berkson and Goodlander - 1 of 4 selected from among submissions). Archived presentation: https://youtu.be/ANm_m5Mh8M4?si=UoFCkz0Mk_86luUZ
Berkson, K., D. Smith, G. Ziegler, A. Bohnert, E. Hanink, S. H. Par, E. E,m, A. Robinson, R. Sung, S. T. Par, H. Hunt, V. Par, E. Hnem, N. Nuam. The Chin Languages Research Project – an Overview. (Oct. 2024). Invited Talk, Corsal VIII Symposium. Oct. 2024
Berkson, K., G. Ziegler, A. Bohnert, and S. H. Par. Chin Languages Research Project: Community collaboration (and linguistically rare phenomena) in Indiana. Invited colloquium, University of Essex, UK. Spring 2024.
2023
Wamsley, J.C., Zathang, R., Iang, D., Em E., Par, S.T., Vang, R., Gray, R., Bohnert, A., Par, S.H., Smith, D., Ziegler, G., Berkson, K., Kay, J., Van Bik, K. & S. Chelliah. “The Chin Languages Research Project: Nurturing community-driven research and the next generation of community scholars”. The 8th International Conference on Language Documentation & Conservation (ICLDC 8). March 2023. Available at https://youtu.be/kjC0SPAK1_E
Ziegler, G., Flego, S., & Berkson, K. H. (May 2023). Variable production of voiceless sonorants in Hakha Lai. 184th Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America. Chicago, Illinois. May 2023. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 153(3), A291.
Bohnert, A., & Berkson, K. H. (May 2023). Lip posture of high and high-mid vowels in Hnaring Lutuv. 184th Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America. Chicago, Illinois. May 2023. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 153(3), A372. https://doi.org/10.1121/10.0019216
2022
Zathang, R., Iang, D., Em Em, Par, S.T., Sung, B., Tial, A., Bawi, P., Vang, R., Gray, R., Berkson, K., Kay, J., Bohnert, A., Par, S.H., Smith, D., Wamsley, J., and Ziegler, G. (2022). The Chin Folklife Survey (Stage 1) [Poster presentation]. Undergraduate Research Poster Symposium, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN.
Wamsley, J. C. (2022, May 19). An investigation of polyfunctional discourse particle cu in Hakha Lai [Conference presentation]. 31st Annual Meeting of the Southeast Asian Linguistics Society (SEALS). University of Hawai’i at Mānoa, Manoa, HI [Zoom].
Berkson, K. & Lotven, S. (2022, Jan. 7). The Chin Languages Research Project: Collaborative research and documentation in Indiana [Special session]. 2022 Annual Meeting of the LSA, Washington, D. C.
Berkson, K., Lotven, S., Wamsley, J., Smith, D., Flego, S., & Bohnert, A. (2022, Feb. 4). The Chin Languages Research Project: Working with underdocumented languages in Indiana [Colloquium presentation]. Indiana University Linguistics Department Colloquium Series, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN.
2021
Lotven, S., K. Berkson, and K. Van Bik. (Dec. 2021). Vowel shift in Zophei, an under-resourced Tibeto-Burman language. Poster presented at the Fifth Edinburgh Symposium on Historical Phonology. Zoom-based conference, Dec. 2021. Available at https://www.samsonlotven.com/zopheivowelshift.
Wamsley, J. (2021, Dec. 3). Conducting semantic fieldwork on Hakha Lai [Colloquium talk]. California State University Fullerton, Fullerton, CA.
Matthews, A. (2021). Language, literacy, and cultural transmission in a Lutuv community [Poster presentation]. Undergraduate Research Poster Symposium, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN. [link]
Sakhong, K., Sung, B. H. , Tha, B., Zathang, A., Iang, D., Sung, B., Tha Par, B., Berkson, K., & Wamsley, J. C. (2021). Linguistically underserved communities and health [Poster presentation]. Undergraduate Research Poster Symposium, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN.
2020
Berkson, K., Chelliah, S. & S. Lotven. “The Chin Languages Research Project and LUCAH: Being of service and investigating typologically rare phenomena in Kuki-Chin languages in Indiana.” Centre for Research on Language Diversity, La Trobe University. Melbourne, Australia. November 2020. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rocXrKHZPUg
Berkson, K. “The Chin Languages Research Project: Investigating typologically rare phenomena in Kuki-Chin languages in Indiana.” Colloquium, State University of New York at Buffalo (SUNY Buffalo). October 23, 2020.
Invited panelist (with Shobhana Chelliah). “Language and Health: Linguistic Documentation as a Tool for Social Good in a Pandemic.” ICSTLL 53 (International Conference on Sino-Tibetan Languages and Linguistics.) Hosted via Zoom, University of North Texas, October 2, 2020.
Wamsley, J. Definite Expressions in Hakha Lai. Talk presented at ICSTLL 53 (International Conference on Sino-Tibetan Languages and Linguistics). Hosted via Zoom, University of North Texas, October 2, 2020.
2019
Berkson, K. “Opportunities are everywhere: Investigating typologically unusual undocumented languages in…Indiana?” Invited Keynote Address, IU Undergraduate Research Conference (IUURC). IU Bloomington. November 2019.
Berkson, K., Lotven, S., & Flego, S. Typologically rare phonetic and phonological phenomena in undocumented languages in…Indiana? Oral presentation at the 24th Annual Mid-continental Phonetics and Phonology Conference. October 4, 2019. Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Par, S., Berkson, K., & Lotven, S. Literacy efforts in Lutuv. Poster presented at IU’s Summer 2019 Undergraduate Research Symposium, IU Bloomington. [link]
Thwangza, T., Wamsley, J., & Berkson, K. Hakha Lai acquisition and attitudes. Poster presented at IU’s Summer 2019 Undergraduate Research Symposium, IU Bloomington. [link]
Sung, Z., Lotven, S., & Berkson, K. The verbal complex in Zophei. Poster presented at IU’s Summer 2019 Undergraduate Research Symposium, IU Bloomington. [link]
Haley, R., Lotven, S. A., Wamsley, J., & Berkson, K. Quantity, quality, both or neither? Vowel contrasts in Hakha Chin monophthongs. 177th Meeting of the ASA. Louisville, KY. May 2019. (published in The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 145(3), 1928-1928.)
Berkson, K., S. Lotven, P.H. Thang, T. Thawngza, Z. Sung, J. Wamsley, F. Tyers, K. Van Bik, S. Kübler, D. Williamson, and M. Anderson. Building a Common Voice Corpus for Laiholh (Hakha Chin). 3rd Workshop on the Use of Computational Methods in the Study of Endangered Languages. Honolulu, Hawai’i. February 2019.
2018
Berkson, K., Lotven, S. A., Wamsley, J., Sung, Z., Thang, P. H., Thawngza, T., de Jong, K., Kuebler, S., & Lulich, S. M. Kuki-Chin languages in Indiana: Investigating typologically rare sounds in a developing community of collaboration. 176th Meeting of the ASA. Victoria, BC. November 2018. (published in The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 144(3), 1937-1937.)
Lotven, S. A. and K. Berkson. A vowel space comparison of Tlawngrang Zophei and Lawngtlang Zophei. 176th Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America. Victoria, BC. November 2018. (published in The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 144(3), 1940-1940.)
Smith, J., Flego, S., and K. Berkson. Articulatory and acoustic investigation of coronals in Hakha Chin. 175th Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America. Minneapolis, MN. May 2018. (Published in The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 143.3:1755-1755.)
Keynotes, Colloquia, and Invited Talks
2019
Berkson, K. “Opportunities are everywhere: Investigating typologically unusual undocumented languages in…Indiana?” Invited keynote address, IU Undergraduate Research Conference (IUURC). IU Bloomington. November 2019.