I am a linguistic anthropologist and assistant professor at CIESAS-DF. I primarily work on language treatment and revitalization, with a focus on the Chatino language of Oaxaca, Mexico; cultural identity and maintenance through language programs and curriculum development; orthography development; and, finally, issues related to sovereignty and decolonization.
One aspect of my research is the application of anthropological methods in the documentation of naturally occurring discourse in indigenous languages. An essential contribution of the anthropological perspective is the recognition of the crucial role to be played by native speaker linguists in all phases of research.
My linguistic work centers on the complex tonal structure of Chatino languages, and I developed the San Juan Quiahije variety’s alphabet. An important result of this project has been the creation of pedagogical materials that will enable members of the Chatino community to preserve their language and cultural integrity. I am a native speaker of Chatino and founder of The Chatino Language Documentation Project, a team of linguists which aims to document and revitalize Chatino languages.
Dear Dr. Cruz,
I hope this email finds you well. I am a PhD student in linguistics at Queen Mary University of London, and I am writing to request your permission to use this image from your website in a journal article I am publishing with Cambridge University’s Department of Classics. The article is part of the Writing as Visual Experience conference proceedings from last September and focuses on different methods of tonal representation in orthography across Latin and non-Latin scripts.
I find the use of superscript letters in Highland Chatino particularly fascinating and have discussed it in my paper. I would greatly appreciate your permission to include the image or, if you prefer, another image of your choice that demonstrates the use of these superscripts for tone. Of course, I would ensure full attribution and citation as per your preference.
Please let me know if this would be possible. Thank you for your time and consideration!
Best regards,
Logan Simpson