:Global Type
:Tenure-track Type
Research Interests: Linguistics, Tibetology
Research Topic: A Descriptive and Geolinguistic Study on the Multi-layered Pastoral Culture in the Tibeto-Himalayan Region
Host Department: Graduate School of Lettrers
Previous Affiliation: Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies
As a linguist, I use the methodology of descriptive linguistics to study how humans perceive the world through language. Specifically, I have been working on the phonological and grammatical structure of the Tibetan language. For Amdo Tibetan, spoken in Northeast Tibet, I presented the entire linguistic system in a single book describing its grammar. I have recently been working on describing the folk vocabulary of Tibetan pastoralism in Northeast Tibet. The Tibetan language has a well-developed vocabulary related to pastoralism, including words that describe the characteristics of livestock such as yaks and sheep, dairy products and milk processing, and the various shapes and types of livestock dung. In the Hakubi Project, I would like to expand the scope of my research from Northeast Tibet to the cool and dry highlands of the Tibeto-Himalayan region, where pastoralism has been developed and traditionally practiced, to further explore the pastoral system and the residents’ worldview through language.