Robert Carlson
Degrees
- Ph.D., Linguistics, University of Oregon, 1990
- M.A., Linguistics, University of Oregon, 1985
- B.A., Biblical studies, University of Southern California, 1974
Current positions
- Dean of Doctoral Studies, Africa International University, Nairobi, Kenya (2010– )
- SIL International Linguistics Consultant (2010– )
- Linguistic Researcher, Mali (1979– )
Other related experience
- Professor, Department of Translation studies; Director, PhD programme in Biblical Studies and Translation Studies, NEGST/AIU, Nairobi, Kenya (2008–2010)
- Head, Département de Traduction Biblique, Faculté de Théologie Evangélique de l’Alliance Chrétienne (FATEAC), Abdijan, Côte d’Ivoire (1999–2004)
- Director, Oregon SIL, University of Oregon (1994–1999)
- Linguistics Consultant, SIL Mali/Côte d’Ivoire (1990–2005)
- Lecturer, University of Oregon (1983–1984, 1988–1989)
Memberships
- International Cognitive Linguistics Association
- American Anthropological Association
- Society for Linguistic Anthropology
Language proficiency
- French
- Supyire
- Classical Greek
- Classical Hebrew
- Latin
Research interests
- Cognitive Grammar
- Construction Grammar
- Semantics, Pragmatics
- Lexicography
- Senufo languages
- Mande language
- Gur languages
Selected publications
Carlson, Robert. 2006. Genitive focus in Supyire. Papers on information structure in African languages, ed. Ines Fiedler and Anne Schwarz, 49–67. ZAS Papers in Linguistics. Berlin: Zentrum für Allgemeine Sprachwissenschaft..
———. 2003. Reflexives and reciprocals in Supyire. Gur Papers 6: 43–55.
———. 2000. Event-views and transitivity in the Supyire verbal system. Gur Papers 5: 39–58.
———. 1994. A grammar of Supyire (Mouton Grammar Library 14). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
———. 1993. A sketch of Jɔ, a Mande language with a feminine pronoun. Mandekan 25: 1-109.
———. 1992. Narrative, subjunctive, and finiteness. Journal of African Languages and Linguistics, 13: 59–85.
———. 1990. Grammaticalization of postpositions and word order in Senufo languages. In Approaches to grammaticalization, ed. Elizabeth Closs Traugott and Bernd Heine, 2:201–23. Amsterdam: Benjamins.
———. 1987. Narrative connectives in Supyire. In Coherence and grounding in discourse, ed. Russell Tomlin. Typological Studies in Language, 11:1–19. Amsterdam: Benjamins.
———. 1983. Downstep in Supyire. Studies in African Linguistics 14: 35–45.
Selected papers presented
Carlson, Robert. 2007. Pronominal Possessa in Supyire. Paper presented at the 37th Conference on African Languages and Linguistics, University of Leiden, Netherlands.
———. 2007. Focused and non-focused genitives in Supyire discourse. Paper presented at the meeting of the International Pragmatics Association, Gӧtheborg, Sweden.
———. 2004. My head hurts from shame: Supyire emotion vocabulary. Paper presented at the Annual Conference on African Languages, Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
———. 2002. Instrument marking in Supyire. Paper presented at the 25th Congress of West African Linguistic Society, Buea, Cameroon.
———. 2001. Definiteness in Supyire in typological perspective. Paper presented at an International Symposium:Typology of African Languages, Sankt Augustin, Germany.
———. 2000. Argument Structure and Verb Frequency in Supyire. Paper presented at the 24th Congress of West African Linguistic Society, Legon, Ghana.
———. 1998. Voice and lability in the Senufo verbal system. Paper presented at Linguistic Colloquium, University of Bayreuth, Germany.
———. 1997. Labile Verbs and Grammatical Constructions in Manding and Senufo. Paper presented at Linguistics Colloquium, University of California, Santa Barbara.