Bruce Oliver

PhD Student

About

I am a PhD student interested in the semantics of Secwepemctsín (Shuswap), a critically endangered Northern Interior Salish language spoken in BC. My research focuses on modality, or how we talk about possibility and necessity in natural language. In English, these are conveyed through words like “might”, “must”, “may”, “can”… but many languages, including Secwepemctsín, frame these concepts in different ways that make word-to-word translations to and from English impossible. I am also committed to language documentation and revitalization and my goal is that my work both contributes to the field of theoretical semantics and provides resources for teaching and immersion programs for Secwepemctsín.


Bruce Oliver

PhD Student

About

I am a PhD student interested in the semantics of Secwepemctsín (Shuswap), a critically endangered Northern Interior Salish language spoken in BC. My research focuses on modality, or how we talk about possibility and necessity in natural language. In English, these are conveyed through words like “might”, “must”, “may”, “can”… but many languages, including Secwepemctsín, frame these concepts in different ways that make word-to-word translations to and from English impossible. I am also committed to language documentation and revitalization and my goal is that my work both contributes to the field of theoretical semantics and provides resources for teaching and immersion programs for Secwepemctsín.


Bruce Oliver

PhD Student
About keyboard_arrow_down

I am a PhD student interested in the semantics of Secwepemctsín (Shuswap), a critically endangered Northern Interior Salish language spoken in BC. My research focuses on modality, or how we talk about possibility and necessity in natural language. In English, these are conveyed through words like “might”, “must”, “may”, “can”… but many languages, including Secwepemctsín, frame these concepts in different ways that make word-to-word translations to and from English impossible. I am also committed to language documentation and revitalization and my goal is that my work both contributes to the field of theoretical semantics and provides resources for teaching and immersion programs for Secwepemctsín.