Mary Paster

Associate Professor of Linguistics and Cognitive Science; Chair of Linguistics and Cognitive Science; Coordinator of Cognitive Science; Coordinator of Linguistics

mary.paster@pomona.edu

Office:

Edmunds Hall

207

(909) 621-8648

Personal Website

With Pomona since:

2006

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Expertise

Mary Paster specializes in phonology, the branch of linguistics concerned with the systematic organization of sounds in languages. Her research focuses primarily on describing poorly documented languages, with a focus on African and Native American languages, and demonstrating the theoretical importance of the linguistic phenomena found in those languages, particularly their sound patterns.

Areas of Expertise

LINGUISTICS

African Languages
Phonology
Morphology

Research Interests

Phonology - tone, vowel harmony, sound change
Morphology - suppletive allomorphy, affix order, multiple exponence
Phonetics - (un)naturalness, instrumental measurement and documentation
The phonology-morphology interface
Field linguistics / working with consultants
African languages
Indigenous American languages

Education

Ph.D.
University of California, Berkeley

Master of Arts
University of California, Berkeley

Bachelor of Arts, summa cum laude
Ohio State University

Recent Courses Taught

Introduction to Linguistics
Field Methods in Linguistics
Morphology
Phonology
Topics in Phonology