Aurélie Cauchard
Address: School of Languages, Linguistics and Cultures, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, M13 9PL, Manchester, UK
Email: Aurelie.Cauchard@manchester.ac.uk
PhD Title: Study of space in Caac, a Kanak language spoken in the north of New Caledonia
Caac is a Southern Oceanic language spoken by 1050 people in the region of Hoot ma Waap in the north of New Caledonia. My research project consists of documenting and describing the encoding of space in Caac.
It aims at exploring how Caac linguistic forms combine with contextual information and cultural knowledge by investigating spatial morphemes such as directional and deictic forms as well as the toponymic system, which interlock spatial with non-spatial information in a dense and culturally salient way.
The project also proposes to revise a dictionary compiled by Hollyman & Mwêau in 1960s and produce pedagogical material in line with recent national and regional policies.
The documentation project on Caac is funded by Endangered Languages Documentation Programme (ELDP) based in SOAS, London (http://www.hrelp.org/).
Supervisors
Split-Site PhD - Two main supervisors: Prof. Eva Schultze-Berndt, University of Manchester and Isabelle Bril, LaCiTO, Paris.
Second supervisor in the University of Manchester: Dr. Andrew Koontz-Garboden.
Main Discipline Areas
Documentation and Description of endangered languages, Semantics
Research Interests
Austronesian and Non-Austronesian (Papuan) languages, Cognitive linguistics, Space in languages: relationship between language, culture and environment. Oral tradition and transmission.
Germanic languages, Historical and Comparative linguistics.
Presentations and publications
21 July 2010: (Presentation) Analysis of the spatial nominals 'back', 'front' and 'side' in Savosavo (Non-Austronesian Language, Solomon Islands), MPI-EVA, Leipzig, Germany.
22 June 2009: (Presentation with Dr. Claudia Wegener) Comparing Savosavo (non-Austronesian) and Gela (Austronesian), 11th International Conference on Austronesian Linguistics, Aussois, France.
2008, Redondance dans les Contes de Canterbury de Chaucer, une approche sociolinguistique et sémiotique. MA dissertation, second year, English Linguistics, Paris 3.
2007, The -ing form in The Canterbury Tales by Chaucer: its origins, uses and comparison with its Modern translations. MA dissertation, first year, English Linguistics, Paris 3.
Membership in Professional Organisations
- Société des Océanistes
- Association Francophone de la Communication Parlée (AFCP)
Professional Biography
22th March - 27th May 2009: Fieldwork on Savo Island (Solomon Islands) with Dr Wegener as part of the DoBeS project of documentation of Savosavo.
September 2008 - August 2010: Research assistant on the project "Documentation of Savosavo, a Papuan language of the Solomon Islands" at the University of Manchester, directed by Prof. Dr. Eva Schultze-Berndt and Dr. Claudia Wegener, funded by DoBeS.
2008: Master in English Linguistics (passed with distinction) supervised by Prof. Claude Delmas, Paris 3, France.
2006: BA in English Studies (English civilisation, English literature, English linguistics and translation), Paris 3, France.