BU Linguistics

BU Linguistics at ACAL

The University at Buffalo will host the 57th Annual Conference on African Linguistics (ACAL 57) on May 21–23, 2026! We are proud to have several department members and alumni presenting:

- Jackson Kellogg: Considering evidence for word stress via intonational peak alignment in Amharic
- Rebecca Dufie Bonney: Talking to Children in their L1 Matters: Lasting ATR Harmony in Akan Heritage Speakers
- Felix Kpogo: Bilingual Experience Shapes Coarticulation in Ga Complex-Simplex Stop Contrasts in Children
- Chloe Guttmann: Voice quality differences in [+ATR] and [−ATR] vowels in Asante Twi (poster)
- André Batchelder-Schwab: Tshila phoneme gaps and the case against clicks as clusters (poster)

For the full schedule, see: https://sites.google.com/view/acal57/program?authuser=0

In 2026, our department has had four PhD candidates pass their dissertation defenses!

Andre Batchelder-Schwab: Topics in African Whistled Languages
Liza Sulkin: Acoustic correlates of gender presentation and sexuality
Jupitara Ray: Phonetic plasticity in Indian English bilinguals: How L2 accommodation alters L1 production and perception
Jackson Kellogg: Prosodic prominence and phrasal intonation in Amharic

We also had one PhD candidate already defend in late 2025!
Nairan Wu: Topics in Khoe-Kwadi Syntax and Morphology, with Special References to Khoekhoe

Congrats to Doctors Wu, Batchelder-Schwab, Sulkin, Ray, and Kellogg!!

Kate Lindsey at CUNY Graduate Center

Last month, BU Professor Kate Lindsey presented at the CUNY Graduate Center with a colloquium called "Two Lies and a Truth: Uncovering the Facts about Chuvash Stress". Congrats!