Category: People

MI Diaries is an example of “Arts and Humanities in Action”

August 21, 2026

The MI Diaries project was featured in an August 4, 2026 news story from the Michigan State University College of Arts and Letters. Thomas Stubblefield, Dean of the College, underscores in this article that “The arts, culture, and humanities enrich our lives by helping us better understand ourselves and others, appreciate different perspectives, and find meaning and common ground in an increasingly divided world...They foster a stronger sense of belonging, strengthen our communities, and help ensure that Michigan remains a place where people want to build their futures.” MI Diaries plays an important role in these efforts: The College of Arts and Letters also is helping document and preserve Michigan’s linguistic heritage through MI Diaries, a project led by Betsy Sneller and Suzanne Wagner, both Associate Professors in the Department of Linguistics, Languages, and Cultures. This multi-year study collects audio recordings and personal reflections from participants across the state, documenting changes in the lives and language of Michigan residents while creating a living archive of language, culture, identity, and everyday life. https://cal.msu.edu/news/arts-and-humanities-in-action-how-msus-college-of-arts-and-letters-is-shaping-michigans-future/

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Betsy Sneller watches a child add a sticker to an MI Diaries poster at the MSU Science Festival.

MI Diaries at MSU Science Fest 2026

May 13, 2026

On April 11th, the Sociolinguistics Lab's Michigan Diaries Project set up at MSU's annual Science Festival to talk to the public about sociolinguistics! In addition to answering people's questions about language and hyping them up to become participants for the Diaries project, we ran two informal studies throughout the day to gauge changes in time in Michiganders' preferred terms for a fizzy drink (pop, soda, or other), as well as the realization of Michiganders' pre-nasal /æ/ vowel (is the vowel in 'hand' the same as the one in 'cap'?) Professor Betsy Sneller helping visitors add to the Pop vs. Soda chart. Team member Connor Bechler giving the MI Diaries rundown to a curious prospective participant. Rush hour at the MI Diaries Science Fest booth.

Conferences / Events / Faculty / Graduate Students / Research

Michigan State Presenting at LSA 2026

December 2, 2025

Five MSU linguists (including Sociolinguistics Lab members Mofart Ayiega & Leah Nodar) will be presenting their work at the Linguistics Society of America’s annual conference, taking place this year in New Orleans from January 8th – 11th!

Please find their talk titles below:

Mofart Ayiega (co-authored with Dr. Suzanne Wagner) – Morphological Leveling of Noun Class Agreement in Urban Swahili
Dr. Leah Nodar – Twelve Variables of Africatown English in 1927 and 1979
Jingying Xu (co-authored with Dr. Cristina Schmitt):
- Beyond Truth Conditions: Context Modulates Telicity Interpretation
- Learning Telicity in Context: Developmental Evidence from Mandarin Children
Ellie Xia (co-authored with Dr. Alan Hezao Ke) – Tonal Marking of Telicity in Hakka: An Agree-Based Analysis
John Ryan (co-authored with Yaxuan Wang) – Reference, Aspect, and Event Completion in Mandarin Sentence Judgments

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Alumni / Conferences / Events / Faculty / Graduate Students / People / Research / Undergraduates

MSU (socio)linguists reunited at NWAV 53

November 21, 2025

The NWAV 53 conference (November 5-7, 2025) was a big success for MSU linguistics! In addition to presenters, our general crew included alumni of the MSU Linguistics PhD program (Mingzhe Zheng, Monica Nesbitt) and Second Language Studies program (Jie Liu); MSU Linguistics MA (Jack Rechsteiner); and MSU Linguistics BA (Wil Rankinen). In addition to Betsy Sneller and Suzanne Wagner, faculty were represented by Karthik Durvasula (Linguistics, phonetics/phonology) and Rose Fisher (German). We were also delighted to include undergraduates from the Honors Seminar that Betsy and Suzanne are co-teaching 2025-2026 and from the Sociolinguistics Lab, as well as current graduate students. Here's to another great NWAV in 2026 in Montreal!

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(l-r back) Jie Liu, Mingzhe Zheng, Anthony Tokrri, Alison Phillips, Wil Rankinen, Connor Bechler, Karthik Durvasula, Jack Rechsteiner, Sophie Motawi, Drake Howard, [unknown], Millie Hacker, Adam Barnhardt. (l-r front) Shuyang Wei, Monica Nesbitt, [unknown], Bai Yang Clemens, Lily Kwon, Rose Fisher, Annan Kirk, Betsy Sneller, Jess Shepherd, Julia Bolash, Connor Mason, Suzanne Evans Wagner, [unknown].

Conferences / Events / Faculty / Graduate Students / Research

MSU Linguists Presenting at NWAV 53

September 23, 2025

This November, Adam Barnhardt, Mofart Ayiega, Rose Fisher, Jess Shepherd, Connor Bechler, Annan Kirk, and Karthik Durvasula will be presenting at NWAV 53 (New Ways of Analyzing Variation) at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor!

Adam will be presenting “Creaky voice: A women-led sub/exurban-centric sound change in white Michigan English“
Mofart will be presenting “Morphological Non-agreement on Animate Nouns in Swahili“
Rose will be presenting “Language Loyalty and Maintenance: The Case of Pennsylvania Dutch“
Jess will be presenting “Paths of sound change in the [mɪɾən]: /tən/ in two varieties of Michigan English”
Connor will be presenting “Modeling and Documenting Variation across Pumi Varieties“
Annan Kirk will be presenting “Really is really frequent: intensifiers and change in Michigan English“
Karthik will be presenting “Near mergers are compatible with categorical representations”

NWAV 53 will run from Nov. 5th – 7th. Register here.

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