Daniel Lapinski

Daniel Lapinski is a Research Fellow affiliated with the South Asia Language and Area Center (SALC), with a cohort year of 2021. His research focuses on the role of language in shaping the conception of Northeastern India within modern South Asian history. He specializes in Meiteilon ("Manipuri") and examines the interplay between scholarship, policy, and language politics in constructing the political and sociocultural landscape of Northeast India under colonial and postcolonial frameworks.

• Education:
• MA, University of Pennsylvania, 2020
• BA, University of Chicago, 2015

His research spans the evolution of Northeastern languages from colonial knowledge production (e.g., the Linguistic Survey of India) to postcolonial initiatives like the Sahitya Akademi and constitutional linguistic recognition in India’s Eighth Schedule. His work engages with Meiteilon and Bangla as primary research languages.

No specific articles or grants are listed, though his current project emphasizes historical linguistics and sociopolitical dimensions of language policy in India.