About the project

The Chin Languages Research Project is a developing collaboration between Indiana University linguists and members of the Indianapolis Chin community. It began in January 2018 with a field methods class devoted to Hakha Lai (also known as Laiholh), a lingua franca in both Chin State and Indianapolis. Our team of graduate students, undergraduate lab members, and faculty members has undertaken a research and service agenda devoted to developing both linguistic resources (e.g. analytical, theoretical) and practical resources (e.g. speech recognition technology for use in emergency rooms).

By weaving first generation native speaker students into the fabric of the research process from the ground up, the project imparts contextualized, transferable, scientific training and re-imagines the relationship between fieldwork and outreach, research and service, documentation and empowerment.