Description

Indiana University, Bloomington Recommendation for Discretionary Grant of $50,000 to Indiana University, Bloomington, for a Chin community language survey in Indianapolis.
Chin languages, part of the Tibeto-Burman language family, originate in Northwest Myanmar and extend into parts of India and Bangladesh. Despite their rich variation in speech sounds and vocabulary, many Chin languages remain undocumented and under-researched, with their survival further threatened by the ongoing political turmoil in Myanmar.   The Chin community in Indianapolis, with approximately 25,000 people hailing from Chin State in western Myanmar and speaking between 30 and 50 Chin languages, offers a unique opportunity to understand and preserve this linguistic diversity. Led by Dr. Kelly Berkson, an associate professor of Linguistics at Indiana University, Bloomington , a team of IU scholars, students and community members established the collaborative Chin Languages Research Project (CLRP) in 2018, devoted to linguistic research, developing practical resources for the community, and training Chin students to become future leaders in the field of Chin studies.   With support from Luce, the CLRP team plans to conduct a community language survey in summer 2024 to document the range of Chin languages currently spoken in Indianapolis. The survey results will establish a baseline understanding of linguistic diversity within the community, guiding future work to address language-related needs. It will also shed light on the impact of forced migration on intergenerational transmission of knowledge, including linguistic and cultural heritage. Funding will cover personnel costs and expenses associated with local travel, interviews, and data collection.   This grant would advance the Asia Program’s Goal 1(a) to strengthen and expand the academic infrastructure that supports the nuanced, multidimensional study of Southeast Asia; and Goal 3 to enrich public discourse about Asia and about Asian American and Asian diaspora experiences in the U.S., and encourage dialogue between and among U.S., Asian, Asian American and Asian diaspora publics. 
Submitted by Yuting Li