MaxEnt and the Allomorphy of Plural in Kadiwéu: Internship at UMass Amherst

• Grant number: 25/03673-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Master's degree
• Start date: September 01, 2025
• End date: February 15, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Linguistics, Literature and Arts - Linguistics - Linguistic Theory and Analysis
• Principal Investigator: Maria Filomena Spatti Sandalo
• Grantee: Leo Vitor Navarro
• Supervisor: Michael Becker
• Host Institution: Instituto de Estudos da Linguagem (IEL). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: University of Massachusetts, Amherst (UMass Amherst), United States
• Associated to the scholarship: 23/13489-0 - Plural Allomorphy in Kadiwéu, BP.MS

Abstract

This international research internship aims to deepen the analysis of plural allomorphy in Kadiwéuthrough probabilistic modeling using the MaxEnt Grammar Tool. The internship will take place atthe University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass) under the supervision of Professor Dr. MichaelBecker, a specialist in both the tool and the theoretical framework of Maximum Entropy Grammar. InBrazil, there are no specialists in MaxEnt, which limits the development of this approach in Brazilianlinguistic research. During the internship, hypotheses regarding the selection of pluralizing suffixes inKadiwéu will be explored, testing phonological and morphological constraints to construct a predic-tive computational model. In addition to theoretical and methodological refinement, the experiencewill provide opportunities for collaboration with researchers in computational phonology and field lin-guistics. The acquired knowledge will be shared in Brazil through presentations in research groups,academic publications, and the dissemination of data and models, contributing to the expansion ofprobabilistic modeling applications in Brazilian linguistics.