Applications are invited for the position of Research Fellow in the Surrey Morphology Group, as part of the project ‘Morphological Complexity in Nuer’, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research (UK). Project investigators are Dr Matthew Baerman and Dr Oliver Bond (Surrey) and Dr Bert Remijsen (Edinburgh). This is a three-year position starting 1 April 2015.

Location: Guildford
Salary: £30,434 to £31,342 per annum
Fixed Term
Post Type: Fixed Term Full Time
Closing Date: Monday 08 December 2014
Interview Date: Wednesday 14 January 2015
Reference: 073414

Job description: 

https://jobs.surrey.ac.uk/Upload/vacancies/files/959/Job_Description.doc

Apply online: 

https://jobs.surrey.ac.uk/vacancy.aspx?ref=073414

The project involves a detailed description of the inflectional morphology of Nuer, a West Nilotic (Nilo-Saharan) language spoken in South Sudan and Ethiopia. The complexity of the system presents a real descriptive challenge, compounded by the wealth of prosodic features (vowel length, tone and phonation type) that play a crucial role in inflection. The Research Fellow will work closely with the project investigators and the project PhD student, and will be involved in the elicitation of data from speakers, as well as its phonological and morphological analysis, leading to the compilation of a morphological dictionary of Nuer inflection, among other outputs. Elicitation will involve speakers both in the UK and in Ethiopia, which will require periodic field trips in the course of the project.

Previous experience in language description is essential, and familiarity with phonological analysis of prosodic features is highly desirable. Experience with Nilotic languages or other languages of the region would also be a plus. Candidates must have the ability to work independently while functioning as part of a research team, and should hold a PhD or expect to complete all requirements for the PhD prior to appointment.

The SMG's current research ranges from fieldwork (on Daghestanian, Oto-Manguean, Slavonic, Atlantic, Papuan and Tibeto-Burman languages) to morphological theory (especially Network Morphology), linguistic typology (including Canonical Typology) and computational modelling. At School level, the School of English and Languages offers a collaborative and successful research environment, and within this, the SMG has research projects funded by the European Research Council, the AHRC and the ESRC.

Informal enquiries may be made to Dr Matthew Baerman (m.baerman@surrey.ac.uk) or Dr Oliver Bond (o.bond@surrey.ac.uk).

Surrey Morphology Group: 

http://www.surrey.ac.uk/smg