Edward Vajda to Discuss Ket Language May 18

Western Washington University’s Linguistics Club will host Professor of Linguistics Ed Vajda to discuss the Ket language and his fieldwork in Siberia from 4-5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, May 18, in Miller Hall Room 152 on the WWU campus.

This lecture is free and open to the public.

Vajda’s presentation will discuss his work over the past two decades with the last generation of fluent Ket speakers. Ket is the only North Asian language with phonemic tones and a complex prefixing verb. The language has mixed with the neighboring peoples’ language over the centuries has produced some of the most bizarre word-formations known. Vajda will include photos of traditional and modern Ket lifestyles, as well as helicopter rides taken over the Siberian taiga in his talk.

For more information, contact Edward Vajda, professor at Western Washington University’s Department of Linguistics, at edward.vajda@wwu.edu.