Kelly Harper Berkson is an associate professor of Linguistics at Indiana University, Bloomington (PhD 2013, Univ. of Kansas). She is originally from Keene, NH. She's particularly interested in the phonetics and typology of breathy and voiceless sonorants, and has been working with Chin languages spoken in Indiana since 2017.
For a CV, click here.
Sui Hnem Par is a PhD student at Indiana University Bloomington studying Education. She received her Master’s degree in education in 2023, and her Bachelor’s degree in Human Resource Management in 2020. She has been involved with the CLRP since 2019 and has contributed to many projects including creating Lutuv literacy materials, producing YouTube videos, conducting research on community language attitudes, and more.
Amanda Bohnert is a graduate student in Linguistics at Indiana University who has been involved in this project since 2019. She has been involved with numerous projects, including the Lutuv Folklife Survey and the YouTube video series among many others. Her current research has focused on numerous topics in Lutuv, especially verbal agreement and vocalic contrasts.
Em Em is a former student at Indiana University, where she completed a degree in Community Health with minors in Gerontology & Global Health Promotion. She was born in a small village called Sun Thla, in the township of Falam. She joined CLRP in 2021, hoping to better understand and help spread knowledge of the diverse languages of the Chin.
Stefon Flego is a PhD candidate in Linguistics and Germanic Studies at Indiana University, Bloomington. He has been involved with the CLRP since its inception in 2018. In addition to working on the Common Voice project, he has also done work on valency, relative clauses, and typologically rare sound contrasts in Hakha Lai.
Elly Mercy Hnem is currently a sophomore at Indiana University (Class of 2026). She’s majoring in Political Science with a minor in Financial Literacy. Just a few years after being born in the Thantlang village of Leitak, Elly’s family emigrated to Malaysia, before immigrating to America in 2009. She speaks Leitak (Zophei), Hakha, and English. Elly joined CLRP in 2023 with the hope of bringing more resources for the lesser known elements of Chin languages and cultures.
Hannah Hunt is a sophomore at Indiana University Bloomington studying International Studies, Spanish, International Education, and TESOL. She is from Indianapolis, Indiana, and grew up surrounded by the Chin community and its culture. Hannah has been involved with the CLRP since August 2022. Since then, she has contributed to CLRP's LUCAH project as well as the Chin Folklife Survey.
Dawt Iang is a junior at Indiana University. She is majoring in Political Science and minoring in International Studies. She was born in Hakha, Chin State. She speaks Hakha, Burmese and English fluently. She joined the team in 2021 and wants to preserve the Chin Language and spread awareness of its diversity outside the Chin community.
Samson Lotven is a field linguist with experience on the phonetics, phonology, morphology, and syntax of under- and undocumented languages. He is currently working with speakers of languages in the Maraic branch of Kuki-Chin, primarily Zophei and Lutuv. His research interests include language variation, syllable structure, and tone.
Alina Matthews is a former student at Indiana University (graduated Winter 2021) majoring in Linguistics and minoring in Second Language Studies. She has been involved with this project since 2020 with interest in the demonstrative and determiner systems of Lutuv. She has also worked alongside Sui Hnem Par to create original children’s books for the Lutuv literacy efforts.
Van Nei Par is a student at Indiana University. As of 2023, she is a sophomore majoring in Community Health and minoring in Social Welfare Advocacy. She was born in a small village called Ngalang, in the township of Thantlang. In 2023, she became part of the CLPR with the goal of preserving Chin languages and sharing the richness of diversity that exists among Chin people with everyone.
Kenneth Van Bik is an Assistant Professor of Linguistics at Cal. State University, Fullerton (PhD Univ. of California at Berkeley, 2006). He is a comparative and historical linguist. Born and raised in Myanmar, he grew up as a bilingual speaker of Hakha Chin and Burmese. His love of teaching and linguistics was inspired by his parents—with his father a Bible translator and his mother a primary school teacher, dinner-table talk often included discussions about translating Greek and Hebrew words and phrases into Hakha Chin.
J.C. Wamsley is an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Linguistics at the University of Rochester. He completed his PhD in Linguistics at Indiana University in 2023. His current research focus is nominal marking in Hakha Lai. He has been involved with the project since 2018, and has contributed to numerous projects including the Common Voice project and an attitude study of Chin languages in the Indianapolis Chin community.
Rem Zathang is a student at Indiana University Bloomington, currently a junior majoring in Fashion Design. She was born in a small village called Vuangtu in Thantlang township. She also speaks Hakha, Zophei, Mizo and English. She joined CLRP in the beginning of 2021 to help preserve Chin language and culture.
Grayson Ziegler is a PhD student in Linguistics at Indiana University. He has been involved with the CLRP since 2022. His research interests include verbal morphology and modality in Lutuv as well as the acoustics of voicing contrasts in Hakha Lai.
Our Graduates and Former Team Members
Rachel Gray completed an undergraduate degree in Linguistics at Indiana University. While working with the CLRP, she undertook a research focus on numeral classifiers in Lutuv. Rachel has a keen interest in language as it relates to social justice. After completing her bachelor’s degree, she is now pursuing a Law Degree.
Biak Par joined the CLRP while she was a student at IUPUI studying Electrical Engineering. She was born in Thantlang Farrawn, but moved to Hakha before she turned 1. She is interested in learning new languages and understanding the dialectal differences in Chin languages.
Sui Tin Par is enrolled at IU Bloomington to study Biology, with a minor in Public Health. She was an active part of the CLRP for several years, contributing to numerous projects including the Chin Folklife Survey. She was born in Hakha, Chin State. She speaks Hakha and English fluently. She joined the team with the hope of being a part of a team that works on preserving the Chin language and culture.
Bawi Hnem Sung was born in Hakha, Chin State, Myanmar. Her major at IU was in Human Biology with a concentration in Human Health and Disease. She joined CLRP in 2020 to preserve the Chin language and culture.
Zai Hniang Sung is a former student at Indiana University (class of 2020). Her degree is in Human Resource Management and Psychology. She is originally from Lawngtlang Village, Thlantlang Township, Chin State and immigrated to the US in 2007. She has been working with the project since 2017 and has contributed to numerous projects such as Common Voice and linguistic research on the Zophei verbal complex. She is interested in continuing working to preserve the Chin languages.
Peng Hlei Thang is a former student at Indiana University (class of 2020). His degree is in Criminal Justice and Sociology. He is from Tlangkhua village in Thantlang township in Chin state in Burma. He has been involved with the Chin Languages Research Team since the beginning and has contributed to numerous projects including Common Voice.
Kimberly Biakthapar Sakhong graduated from Indiana University (class of 2021) with a degree in Management. She was born in Leitak village and grew up in Hakha, Chin State before migrating to the United States. She was involved with the CLRP beginning in 2019, and was instrumental in conducting some of our earliest interview projects. She is interested in preserving the Chin languages and culture.
