carol rose little

main • research • teaching • cv • ch'ol poetry translations • email • en español

I am an assistant professor of linguistics at the University of Oklahoma in the Department of Modern Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics. I am interested in syntax and its connections to the semantics and morphology interfaces. The empirical basis for my work comes from my original fieldwork with under-studied languages, primarily Ch'ol (Mayan, Mexico). I have a PhD in linguistics from Cornell University with graduate minors in American Indian and Indigenous Studies and Cognitive Science.

I also have experience translating and interpreting Ch'ol. Working with poet and author Charlotte Friedman, we have translated two collections of Juana Peñate's and have published poems from them in literary journals such as World Literature Today, The Arkansas International and Exchanges. I am a professionally qualified interpreter for Ch'ol and have worked in US state superior courts and federal courts.

For inquiries about Ch'ol translation and interpreting email me here.

recent and upcoming

• June 2024. Op-Ed in the Tulsa World ''Human creativity and empathy come from an embrace of a multi-linguistic cultures'' [link] (ask me for a pdf if this is behind a paywall!)
• April 2024. The history of the Summer Institute of Linguistics at the University of Oklahoma. 2024 LSA proceedings. [pre-print link]
• March 2024. Case competitors and the syntax of impersonals. Talk at Workshop On Morphology at Princeton (WOMP 2024)
• February 2024. Estructuras impersonales en las lenguas mayas. Invited Conference talk at Form and Analysis in Mayan Linguistics 7. Mexico City.
• January 2024. Talk at the 54th Annual Meeting of the North East Linguistics Society (NELS), MIT: Evidence from impersonals for [+/-hearer].
• January 25, 2024. Type-shifting in headless relative clauses published open-access today in Natural Language and Linguistic Theory. With Scott AnderBois and Jessica Coon. [link]
• January 2024. Impersonal morphosyntax in generative grammar. Language and Linguistics Compass. [link]
• January 2024.Talk at Linguistics Society of America, NYC: The history of SIL in Oklahoma and implications for linguistics now.
• November 9, 2023. Norman Transcript article on the Mayan Film Festival! [article]
• November 9, 2023. Talk at CILLA X: Los impersonales: Una perspectiva desde los idiomas mayas
• November 2023. I am organizing a Mayan Film Festival at OU November 6, 14, and 15! More information here: [press release 1] [press release 2]
• September 2023. Two Ch'ol poems by Miriam Hernandez, translated by me and Charlotte Friedman in World Literature Today . [link]
• July 2023. Type-shifters in headless relative clauses manuscript available on lingbuzz. To Appear in Natural Language and Linguistic Theory With Scott AnderBois and Jessica Coon . [link]
• June 2023. Guest Contribution on church-state issues in public education in Oklahoma published in The Oklahoman. [link]
• April 21, 2023. A case for binary features from impersonals. Invited colloquium talk at Boston University.