Linguistics expert speaking at K-State about the origins of language

Media Relations and Marketing
9 Anderson Hall
Manhattan, KS 66506-0117
Phone: 785-532-6415
Fax: 785-532-6418

Information provided by K-State Media Relations, K-State's news service, may be reproduced without permission. The marks and names of Kansas State University are protected trademarks and may not be used in any commercial or private endeavor without the approval of the university.

Source: Nidhi Mungali, 785-532-6234, nidhi@phys.ksu.edu
http://www.phys.ksu.edu/origins
News release prepared by: Erinn Barcomb-Peterson, 785-532-6415, ebarcomb@k-state.edu

Thursday, October 12, 2006

LINGUISTICS EXPERT SPEAKING AT K-STATE ABOUT THE ORIGINS OF LANGUAGE

MANHATTAN -- A professor with an interest in how humans developed language will present a lecture at Kansas State University.

Robbins Burling will discuss "The Origins of Human Language" at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 19, in the K-State Alumni Center's banquet hall. The lecture is sponsored by K-State's Center for the Understanding of Origins and is free.

Burling is a professor emeritus of anthropology and linguistics at the University of Michigan. His interest is in the evolution of the human ability to learn a language. Much of his research has centered on the linguistics and ethnology of northeast India and Bangladesh and related areas in Southeast Asia. Since the 1950s, he has worked with the Garo people of northeast India and Bangladesh, writing extensively about their language and culture. Burling earned a bachelor's degree from Yale University and a doctorate in anthropology from Harvard University.

The Center for the Understanding of Origins at K-State sponsors both academic and public speakers and other events with the intent to foster informed debate among citizens regarding subjects like evolution.