About me

I am an Assistant Professor in Linguistics at the University of Toronto and I am a native speaker of Q’anjob’al, a Mayan language of Guatemala. My research focuses on the documentation, acquisition, and revitalization of Mayan languages. I am currently working on the revitalization of Itzaj, an endangered Mayan language of Guatemala, in collaboration with the Comunidad Lingüística Itzaj of the Academia de las Lenguas Mayas de Guatemala.

In collaboration with my former academic advisor, Clifton Pye, and Maria Polinsky, I have documented the acquisition of the following Mayan languages: Q’anjob’al , Ch’ol, Mam, Chuj, K’iche’, and Awakateko. I have done research on the acquisition of ergativity, split ergativity, status suffixes, causatives, motion verbs and directionals, and numeral classifiers, especially in Q’anjob’al and Chuj.

For my research on Mayan languages, I work in collaboration with Mayan communities and local organizations in Guatemala. I also work in the training of Mayan speakers on Mayan linguistics, language documentation, and creating teaching materials for language revitalization.