Samantha Rarrick, PhD
Lecturer
School of Humanities, Languages & Social Sciences
Griffith University
PROJECTS
Sinasina
Sign Language
Chimbu Province, Papua New Guinea
During my dissertation research on Kere in 2016, I encountered a previously unreported sign language, Sinasina Sign Language. This language is not related to any currently reported sign languages and is used by both Deaf and hearing people in the Sinasina valley. Over the course of my two-year fellowship with the National Science Foundation, I began to document and describe Sinasina Sign Language, looking especially at typological implications. A full project description can be found here. This portion of my research is ongoing at Griffith University.
Kere
Chimbu Province, Papua New Guinea
My research in the Eastern Highlands began in the summer of 2013 when I worked as a research assistant for Dr. Andrea Berez-Kroeker. I have since worked with speakers of various Chimbu languages both in the field and in a year-long Field Methods course. Much of my research focused on Kere, a variety spoken in Sinasina near Kundiawa. I have worked to document and describe Kere alongside Dr. Berez-Kroeker and Bafinuc Ilai; this project was funded by a three-year grant from the Endangered Languages Documentation Programme (ELDP). My dissertation focuses on lexical and postlexical tone in Kere and its relationship to neighboring varieties in Sinasina.
SLDTC
Sign Language Documentation Training Center
The Sign Language Documentation Training Center was initiated in 2013 as a supplement to the Language Documentation Training Center. I served as a co-director, mentor, and workshop leader. We worked on creating annotated ELAN files to document American Sign Language, Hawai'i Sign Language, and others.