Noah Diewald


About Me

I am a PhD candidate in the Ohio State University Linguisitcs Department where I research morphology. My research focuses on the morphology-semantics interface(s) in abstractive, Word-and-Paradigm-style systems.

My research integrates two methodologies, formal modeling and elicitation-based fieldwork. I use modern type theories, such as the Calculus of Constructions, to model lexical form-meaning relationships in inflectional and derivational morphology. My elicitation-based fieldwork sees a connection between what Cronbach termed correlational studies and the traditional elicitation-based fieldwork approach. Very roughly, a correlational approach contrasts with experimental approaches in that correlational studies are interested in individuals and individual differences, while experimentation seeks to determine averages across a population.

My domain of interest is the grammatical knowledge of individuals. This knowledge is largely implicit but probes and diagnostics allow the researcher to determine its nature. Formal models and empirical fieldwork reinforce one another. Fieldwork provides evidence for the elaboration of the formal model. The formal model behaves as a component of a nomological network, which guides the design of diagnostics.

My dissertation research studies the properties of Wao Terero lexical suffix constructions. Wao Terero is a linguistic isolate spoken by an unknown number of speakers in the Ecuadorian Amazon.

Lexical suffixes may be used both as elements in compound-like constructions and as classifiers in some morphological constructions. Aikenvald calls the Wao Terero classifier system a multi-classifier system because the same set of classifier suffixes are used with nearly every part of speech. This is in contrast to verbal or numeral classifier systems that are named for the specific part of speech they occur with.

In addition to my current work. I have also worked with languages in the Algonquian and Quechuan families. I have had a long involvement with the digital humanities, contributing technical skills to a number of documentation projects that have resulted in valuable resources for both researchers and the communities involved. Lately I have been working with a team that seeks to create advanced tools for linguistic description and annotation that utilize advanced NLP and machine learning techniques.