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Title Prof./Dr. First Name Last
Name
Photograph
Designation Shobha Satyanath
Address Department of Linguistics, University of Delhi
Phone No Office 011-27666676
Residence 011-27666127
Mobile 9958777558
Email [email protected]
Web-Page
Educational Qualifications
Degree Institution Year Ph.D. University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA 1991
M.Litt. University of Delhi 1983
MA University of Delhi 1980
Career Profile
1. Professor, Department of Linguistics, University of Delhi, Delhi 2. Reader, Department of Linguistics, Assam University, Silchar, Assam (1995- 2000)
3. Senior Fellow (Post Doc) CIIL, Mysore (1992-1994)
4. Project Director (ICSSR supported Research Project) 1994-1995
5. Adjunct Assistant Professor, Drexel University (1990-1991) Special: Vice President, Linguistic Society of India
Administrative (cum Academic)Assignments
Head, Department of Linguistics (CAS II);
Director, Centre for Advanced Studies in Linguistics, University of Delhi (CAS II)
Director, BRICs and 7+1 (Hindi Language and Indian Studies Programme). Hankuk University of Foreign Studies
(HUFS), South Korea.
NAAC Coordinator, Department of Linguistics (CAS)
Nodal officer/Convener for NTA related work
Facilitating and monitoring OBE and Evaluation
Areas of Interest / Specialization
I am interested in the related multidisciplinary areas of Language Variation and Change, Socio Phonetics, Dialect
Geography, Language contact, Pidgins and Creoles, Multilingualism and language policy, Socio-Historical, and
quantitative linguistics, which translates into both my teaching and research. My research is majorly concentrated in
Eastern and North Eastern India and on urban towns and cities across the country. I and some of my students are
currently working on Delhi. I wrote my doctoral dissertation on Guyanese English creole. Since then, my research
Shobha Satyanath
Department of Linguistics, University of
Delhi
011-27666676
9958777558
Educational Qualifications
Degree Institution Year
Ph.D. University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia,
U.S.A
1991
M. Phil University of Delhi 1983
MA University of Delhi 1980
1 . Associate Professor, Department of Linguistics, University of Delhi, Delhi (2000-present)
2. Reader, Department of Linguistics, Assam University, Silchar, Assam (1995- 2000)
Sociolinguistics: language variation and language change
Language in space: 19th
century Bengal/Assam, North-East
India
Outcomes of Language contact: Guyanese English creole
Contact languages in North-East India
Urban Multilingualism
Faculty Details proforma for DU Web-site
(PLEASE FILL THIS IN AND Email it to [email protected]
and cc: [email protected]
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has expanded into other contact settings in India.
I am my students have been Building Speech Corpora (natural Conversations) of Indian Languages: Assamese,
Bengali, Malayalam, Angami, Ao, Bishnupriya, Nagamese, Hindi, English, Guyanese English.
Courses Taught
1. Introduction to Linguistics
2. Phonetics
3. Aspects of Linguistic Behaviour
4. Topics in Sociolinguistics
5. Multilingualism
6. Seminar on City and Language
7. Language contact, mixed languages
8. Historical Linguistics
9. Research Methodology,
10. Data and Methodology,
11. Englishes across the world
12. Field Methods
13. Multilingualism and language policy [ new course]
14. Advanced Sociolinguistics : Stable variation and language change
15. Historical Linguistics
16. Varieties of M.Phil. Courses [current trends in sociolinguistics, Language contact and Mixed languages,
Research methods: Data, methods and theory debates, working with historical materials…]
Online Teaching and Research Guidance Regular Online Meetings/Discussion with Research Students
Weekly workshops with M.Phil. Part I students
Weekly online meeting with The Team on Book Project
M.A. Teaching and the PG Diploma Teaching (Last term taught Four courses)
At present Two courses are being taught Online.
Research Guidance
Supervision of awarded Doctoral Thesis
1. Laskar, Nazrin B. (2011). A study of variation and change in a bilingual context: The case of Bishnupriya. 2. Dey, Kakoli (2010). A Sociolinguistic study: Silchar Bengali.
3. Sharma, Richa (2017).A sociophonetic study of variation in vowels among Hindi / Punjabi-English
bilinguals in Delhi. 4. Bhattacharya, Pratibha (2017). Variation and change: A case study of Calcutta Bengali. 5. KelhouvinuoSuokhrie. Clanlectal contact and its impact on language change in Kohima village [In
progress]
Supervision of awarded M.Phil dissertations
1. Ranjan Kumar. Geographic variation and change in Bihari group of languages [In progress]
2. Meghna Bose Gender assignment among Bengali children in Delhi
3. Yutensangla Imchen.Bidialectalism in Mokokchung town.
4. ViyaTerhiija. A study of southern Angami dialects in space.
5. Catherine Michael. Language choice in a multilingual context: implications for phonology. 6. Gayatri Das. Language and ethnicity: A case study of Missing in Assam with particular reference to
Dhemaji.
7. KelhuoVinuo Suokhrie. Internal variation in Angami: A case study of Kohima village.
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8. Neethu Sunny.A Sociolinguistic study of Malayalam in Cherukunnam.
9. Richa, Sharma. Phonetic Realizations of vowels in Indian English. 10. Bhattacharya, Pratibha .Voicing patterns in Delhi English.
11. Das, Bishakha. The lesser-known languages of Lohit district: A socio-historical investigation.
12. Laskar, Nazrin B. Contact between Tibeto-Burman and Indic: The case of Bishnupriya.
Publications Profile
Edited Works As a Chief Editor, Edited and published the following Journals:
Asia Pacific Language Variation. Volume 6.2 John Benjamins
Asia Pacific Language Variation. Volume 6.1 John Benjamins
Book Chapters
Forthcoming
Satyanath, Shobha. Sociolinguistics of multicultural communities: What can be learned?in Katie Drager, Malcah
Yaeger-Dror and Chris Cieri (eds., 2021).) Dimensions of Linguistic Variation. OUP
Satyanath, Shobha. Perspectives on social life of language (tentative title). In Panda, Mishra, & Kóczy, (eds.,
2021), Macro and micro-social variation in Asia-Pacific sign languages. Springer.
Satyanath, Shobha. South Asia: Indo European languages. In Martin J. Ball and Rajend Mesthrie (Eds.). The
Routledge Handbook of Sociolinguistics around the World, 2nd edition. Routledge.
Published
Satyanath, Shobha (2018). Kohima: Language variation and change in a small but diverse city in India. In Dick
Smakman and Patrick (eds.) Urban Sociolinguistics: The city as a linguistic process and experience. Heinrich
(eds.). Globalizing Sociolinguistics (pp. 95- 112). London and New York: Routledge.
Satyanath, Shobha (2017). Mapping linguistic diversity in colonial Bengal. In Nicholos Ostler and
Panchanana Mohanty (eds.), Language colonization and Endangerment: Long-tern effects,
echoes and reactions. Proceedings of the 20th FEL Conference. England: Foundation for
Endangered Languages (Dec 9-12, 2016) (pp. 27-32). ISBN 978-0-9560210-8-3.
Satyanath, S., & Sharma, R. (2016). The growth of English in Delhi: New perspectives in a multilingual setting. In
J. Singh, A. Kantara & D. Cserző (Eds.), Downscaling culture: Revisiting intercultural communication (pp.
192-227). Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars.
Satyanath, Shobha (2015). Language variation and change: The Indian experience. In D. Smakman & P. Heinrich
(Eds.), Globalizing sociolinguistics (pp.107-122). New York: Routledge.
Satyanath, Shobha and Nazrin Laskar (2009). Ethnicity, bilingualism and variable clitic marking in Bishnupriya
Manipuri. In James N. Stanford and Dennis R. Preston (Eds.). Variation in Indigenous Minority languages
(pp. 441- 462). John Benjamins.
Satyanath, Shobha and Nazrin Laskar (2008). Lexicon in a contact language. In Stephen Morey, and Mark Post
(Eds.). North East Indian Linguistics (pp. 75-92). New Delhi:Foundation/Cambridge University Press.
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Satyanath, Shobha (2006). English in the new world: continuity and change, the case of personal pronouns in
Guyanese English. In Parth Bhatt, and Ingo Plag (Eds.). The structure of Creole Words: Segmental, syllabic
and morphological aspects (pp.179-200). Tubingen: Max Verlag Niemeyer.
Satyanath, Shobha (2003). On the maintenance of transplanted Indian languages overseas. In Rekha Sharma, and E.
Annamalai (Eds.). Indian diaspora: In search of identity (pp. 85-104). Mysore: Central Institute of Indian
Languages.
Satyanath, Shobha (2003). A bibliography on Indians overseas. In Rekha Sharma, and E. Annamalai (Eds.). Indian
diaspora: In search of identity (pp. 338-347). Mysore: Central Institute of Indian Languages
Journal Articles
Satyanath, Shobha (2021) Genealogies of Sociolinguistics in India’. Journal of Sociolinguistics (Wiley). DOI:
10.1111/josl.12496
Satyanath, Shobha (Forth). Language contact and Diffusion: Classifiers in Assamese and its contact varieties’
Journal of Language Contact.
Satyanath, Shobha (Forth). Looking beyond the western horizons: Pedagogies of multilingualism. AMU
(invited)
Satyanath, Shobha. (2004-5). Postcolonial creole(s), decreolization, and Guyanese English. Sargasso (I):
[Creolistics and Caribbean Languages], 113-140.
Satyanath, Shobha (2001). Language change and transmission of knowledge across generation. Indian
Linguistics (62): 73-88.
Satyanath, Shobha (2000). Adequacy of creole languages: accounting for variation in the tense-
aspect categories in Guyanese English. Vartavaha (5):1-44. Mysore: Central Institute of Indian
Languages.
Satyanath, Shobha (1992). Perceptual significance of acoustic cues in nasals in Burmese. Proceedings of the
workshop on speech technology, Madras: Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Indian Institute
of Technology.
Satyanath, Shobha (1990). The use of pronouns and its implications for the implicational modal of decreolization in
Guyanese. The Penn Review of Linguistics (14): 129-142. Department of Linguistics: University of
Pennsylvania.
Review Articles in Journals
Satyanath, Shobha (Forth) Review of Agnihotri (ed.) Essays on Lepage. Journal of Pidgin and Creole languages
and Linguistics
Satyanath, Shobha. 2003. Review of Mukherjee, Aditi and Vasanta Duggirala (eds). Practice and research in
literacy. Contributions to Indian Sociology 37(3), 545-547.
Satyanath, Shobha (2001). Reviews of Rajendra Singh (ed.). Grammar, language and society. And Lachman M.
Khubchnadani. Revisualizing boundaries, A plurilingual ethos. Contributions to Indian Sociology 35(3):
438-440.
Satyanath, Shobha. 1994. Review of Rajend Mesthrie. A Sociolinguistic history of Bhojpuri-Hindi in South Africa.
Language in Society 23(4):591-595.
Journal Editorials
Satyanath, Shobha (2017) Editorial. Asia-Pacific Language Variation, 3.2, pp. 123-127.
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Satyanath, Shobha (2017) Editorial. Asia-Pacific Language Variation, 3.1, pp. 1-4
Satyanath, Shobha (2016). Editorial. Asia-Pacific Language Variation, 2.2, pp.121-123.
Satyanath, S. (2016). Editorial. Asia-Pacific Language Variation, 2(1), 1-4.
Satyanath, S. (2015). Editorial. Asia-Pacific Language Variation, 1(1), 1-6.
Satyanath, S. (2015). Editorial. Asia-Pacific Language Variation, 1(2), 1-3
Monographs
Satyanath, Shobha (1997). Language on Assam Tea Plantations. UGC Research Project. Assam University, Silchar.
Satyanath, Shobha (1998). Adequacy of Creole Languages: Accounting for variation in the tense-aspect categories
in Guyanese English. Indian Council for Social Science and Research. Kannada University, Hampi, Karnataka.
Satyanath Shobha and Kakoli Dey (1996-97). A description of Bishnupriya. University of Assam, Silchar
Several Unpublished monographs
Speech corpora of natural language usage (i) Guyanese English spoken by a community of Indian origin
(ii) Assamese (Geographic varieties)
(iii) Nefamese
(iv) Nagamese
(v) Bengali (Geographic varieties: Calcutta, Delhi, Chittagong; and other varieties)
(vi) Hindi- English
(vii) Hindi
(viii) Indian English
(ix) Bishnupriya (Geographic Varieties)
(x) Kok Borok
(xi) Sadri
(xi) Earlier Assamese: Historical texts
Conference Organization/ Presentations
List against each head(If applicable)
Organization of a Workshop
CAS Intensive workshop on Acoustic Phonetics (March 2-4, 2017) Department of Linguistics, University
of Delhi.
Under CAS: A series of four Workshops on Phonetics and R (October 23-27, 2017) by Professor Peter
Keegan, Auckland University, New Zealand.
Organization of a Conference
New ways of analyzing language variation and change. (NWAV ASIA-PACIFIC I) University Delhi
(February 23-36, 2011).
Social lives of language, A Cardiff – Delhi University Symposium, University of Delhi (August 16, 2013).
Panel on Landscaping languages of North East India. NEILS. Latrobe University and Guwahati
University, Assam (January Jan 31-Feb 2, 2014).
Panel on Study of speech communities in India. University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad (February 6-8, 2014).
Downscaling Culture: revisiting intercultural communication.In collaboration with Cardiff University,
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Wales, UK (September 18-19, 2014).
Multiple Voices. Colloquium in appreciation of Ramakant Agnihotri (December 2010).
Participation as Paper/PosterPresenter
International Conferences
2019-2020-2021
Contact and diffusion: Classifiers in two contact varieties of Assamese. NWAV, National University of Singapore
(February, 19-22, 2021)
Expanding footprints of Sociolinguistics in Asia-Pacific: Decolonising Sociolinguistics. Sociolinguistics Symposium,
23. University of Hong Kong (7-10 June, 2021) [Thematic Panel on decolonizing, decentering Sociolinguistics].
What can be learnt from the Indian models of linguistic diversity? International Webinar on Covid-19 Pandemic, and
the Endangered Languages, The centre for Linguistic Justice and Endangered Languages, National University of
Law, Delhi ( 9-10, July, 2020) National Law University, Delhi.
Looking beyond the western horizons: NCPIL, AMU, Aligarh (March, 2020)
The multiple mothers: Language and diversity in India. INTERNATIONAL MOTHER LANGUAGE DAY, MIL &
LS; Faculty of Arts, University of Delhi & NCPCL (21st February, 2020)
Urbanization, mobility and language variation in India. Department of Chinese Language and Literature, University
of Macau (July 30, 2019)[ Invited].
2018-17
Urbanization and the rise of new plurilingualism: Implications for theory and methods of sociolinguistics. Plenary
Talk. GloSoc2 (Globalising Sociolinguistics Communicating in the City): Leiden University, Netherlands ( 13-15
December, 2018)
Mapping English in India in time and space. Tokyo University of foreign Studies, Japan (July 6, 2018).
Multicultural India and the Indianness of English (With Richa Sharma). Kanda University of International Studies,
Japan (July 10, 2018).
Indian perspectives on bilingualism. Linguistics Department, Cornel University (jointly hosted by Inequality cell,
Cornell University, Ithaca and South Asia Studies, Syracuse University), March 28, 2018.
Coexisting in a multilingual urban landscape: A case study of Delhi. AAS-2018, Panel on Language choice and
identity in South and Southeast Asia. Washington D.C. (March 22-25, 2018).
Dialect contact and multiple grammars. NWAVAP 5, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia (February
1-3, 2018).
2016
Satyanath, Shobha (2016). Mapping linguistic diversity in colonial Bengal. Language colonization and
Endangerment: Long-tern effects, echoes and reactions. The 20th FEL Conference. (Dec 9-12, 2016),
Hybridity, multilingualism, identity and change in Nagaland. Language power and Identity in Asia:
Creating and Crossing Language boundaries. IIAS Leiden, Netherlands (March 14-16, 2016).
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Motivation for language change in language contact. NWAV-AP 4. National Chung Cheng University,
Taiwan (April 20-22, 2016).
2014
Problematizing style shift in Indian contexts.Keynote Address, Downscaling Culture: revisiting intercultural
communication.Cardiff University, Wales, UK. (September 18-19, 2014)
Studying a restructured variety in a multilingual context.NWAV-AP 3. University of Victoria, Wellington,
New Zealand (May 1-3, 2014).
Sociolinguistic research: The Indian experience.SALA. University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad (February 6-8,
2014).
Retroflex, palatals and conjunct consonants. NEILS. Latrobe University and Guwahati University, Assam
(January 31-Feb 2, 2014).
2012
The Indian experience with English-from classroom to the community, from ESL/EFL to ENL. Tenth
TEFL.TEFl Asia (with Richa Sharma), Delhi, India. (October 4-6, 2012).
Diffusion of linguistic changes in nineteenththcentury Bengal. NWAV ASIA-PACIFIC II, NINJAL, Tokyo,
Japan (August 1-4, 2012).
2011
Spatiality of alveolars and palatals across Eastern India. NWAV ASIA-PACIFIC I, University of Delhi,
Delhi (February 23-36, 2011).
Is a multilingual speech community possible? Panel discussion on Asia Pacific speech communities:
Challenges. NWAV ASIA-PACIFIC I, University of Delhi, Delhi (February 23-26, 2011).
2010
Landscaping Bengali through time and space.International Congress of Bengal Studies. University of Delhi,
Delhi (February 25-28, 2010).
2008
Bishnupriya and not Manipuri?Surviving identity amid conflict in North East Part of India.NWAV,
Houston, Texas, U.S.A. (November. 2008) [jointly with NazrinLaskar].
Outcomes of contact: variability in NP structure of Bishnupriya.International meeting of the North East
Indian Linguistic Society (NEILS).Latrobe University and Guwahati University, Assam (January 20-22,
2008) [jointly with NazrinLaskar].
Problematizing the discourse of endangered languages.International Seminar on Endangered and indigenous
languages. CALTS, University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad (March 1-3, 2008).
2007
Journey of khan from Assamese to Nagamese.International meeting of the North East Indian Linguistic
Society (NEILS). Latrobe University and Guwahati University, Assam (February 7-9, 2007 ) [jointly with
KakoliDey].
Revisiting the story of Khan in Nagamese.13th International Himalayan Language Symposium. Indian
Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla (October 22-24, 2007) [jointly with KakoliDey].
2006
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Creoles under scanner: natural change and unnatural languages?International Workshop on Simplicity and
Complexity in Creole languages. University of Siegen, Siegen, Germany (April 6-8, 2006).
Lexicon in a contact language: Bishnupriya.International meeting of the North East Indian Linguistic
Society. La Trobe University, Australia and Gauhati University, Gauhati (February 6-7, 2006). [jointly with
NazrinLaskar].
2003
Morphology within and across generations of speakers: the case of Guyanese Creole English. International
Workshop on the Phonology and Morphology of Creole Languages. University of Siegen, Germany
(October 8-10, 2003).
Variability in the use and distribution of classifiers in Bishnupriya- a contact language (jointly with
NazrinLaskar). New Ways of Analysing Variation (NWAV 32). University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia,
U.S.A (October 9-12, 2003).
Globalization, language diversity and new world Englishes. International Conference on Issues in Applied
Linguistics. Department of Linguistics, University of Delhi, Delhi (December 12-14, 2003).
1998-1999
Is Nagamese a pidgin, creole or a restructured variety? International Conference on South Asian Languages.
Punjab University, Patiala (January 9-11, 1999).
Variation in agreement- Is there number concord in Guyanese English creole? International Seminar on
Agreement.Department of Linguistics, University of Delhi, Delhi (January 9-11, 1998).
1990-1994
Maintenance of transplanted Indian languages overseas: a comparative perspective.International Conference
on the maintenance of Indian languages and cultures overseas. CIIL, Mysore (January 5-9, 1994).
The issue of rule ordering in variable phonology: (daz) in Guyanese.The annual meeting of the Linguistic
Society of America and the Society of Pidgin and Creole Linguistics. University of California, L.A, U.S.A (
January 7-11, 1993).
On the tense marking of (daz) in Guyanese English Creole.Meeting of the Society for Pidgins and Creole
Linguistics in conjunction with the Meeting of the Linguistic Society of America. Chicago, U.S.A. ( January
3-6, 1991).
The use of pronouns and its implications for the implicational modal of decreolization in Guyanese.The
fourteenth Annual Penn Linguistics Colloquium.University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia (February 9-10,
1990).
1989-1982
Perceptual significance of acoustic properties: voiceless nasals in Burmese.International Conference on
linguistic approaches to phonetics.University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (May 1-3, 1989).
Indian substratum in Guyanese Creole?South Asian Languages Analysis Round Table IX.Cornell/ Syracuse
University, Ithaca/ Syracuse (June 5-7, 1987).
Testing language proficiency in India: some problematic issues.VIII Delaware Symposium on language
studies.University of Delaware, Newark (October 23-25, 1986).
Politeness Phenomenon in Hindi.South Asian Languages Analysis Round Table III.CIIl, Mysore (May,
1982).
National Seminars/ Conferences/Talks
Shobha Satyanath. A variationist perspective on language: Modeling diversity. International Linguistics
Symposium. Central University of Rajasthan (17-18 March, 2021).
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Shobha Satyanath. What can be learnt from the Indian models of linguistic diversity? International Webinar
on Covid-19 Pandemic, and the Endangered Languages, The centre for Linguistic Justice and Endangered
Languages, National University of Law, Delhi (9-10, July, 2020) National Law University, Delhi.
Fundamentals of Sociolinguistics. Keynote Lecture. Short term course on Sociolinguistics. IIT Roorkee,
June 9, 2014.
Issues in language contact. Short term course on Sociolinguistics.IITRoorkee, June 9, 2014.
Language variation and gender.Keynote Address. National Seminar on Gender and Language, In
commemoration of Prof. K. Nagamma Reddy. University of Kerala, Trivendrum (March 12-14, 2014).
Let’s talk. What is your Bhasha? The jumpstart festival. India International Centre (August 30, 2013).
Proposal and Project Writing.Centre for professional development in higher education
University of Delhi (7 Mar-9 March 2013).
Boundaries of Knowledge: Sociolinguistics and Social sciences.Boundaries of knowledge: Methods and
strategies. Department of Linguistics, University of Delhi, Delhi (March 23, 2013).
Language and identity.Gijubhai Memorial Lecture. Jesus and Mary College (As part of annual event,
‘AAGAAZ:The Beginning)Delhi (March 22, 2013).
Nation and Language.Meeting of the Zomi language and Literature Society (ZOLLS).Manipur. Nov 20-
22, 2012.
The state and the speech community: The role of language and linguistic cultures in identity
formations.The role of language and culture in nation making. Bombay University (January 27-29, 2011).
Language Variation and change: Social and temporal lives of language. Department of Sanskrit, University
of Delhi, Delhi (31-12-2011).
Research Projects (Major Grants/Research Collaboration) 1. Research collaboration and cooperation with Kanda University of International Studies, Japan. The project seeks
to develop modules in eight different varieties of English including Indian English [2015-2016; 2018-2022].
2. International Collaboration with Cardiff University, Wales, UK. (ICSSR-ESRC-UKIERI Ph.D. Partnering
Initiative) [2013-2016] on post-colonial English (Indian English).
3. Annual R&D Grant, University of Delhi (2009-2015)
4. Indian council for Social Science and Research (1994-1995)
5. UGC Minor Research project (1996-97)
Awards and Distinctions
Govt. of India National Scholarship for study abroad
Association With Professional Bodies
Editorial Assignments
Chief Editor, Asia-Pacific Language Variation. John Benjamins (2015-Present)
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Member, Editorial Board (January 2018-2021), Journal of Sociolinguistics, John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Member, Editorial Board, John Benjamins (Creole Library Series). 2006-present.
Member, Editorial Advisory Board. Journal of Pidgin and Creole languages. John Benjamins (until 2014).
Other Activities
Building Speech corpora of Indian Languages
Signature of Faculty Member
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