Abigail C Cohn

Abigail C. Cohn is a Professor of Linguistics at Cornell University, affiliated with the College of Arts and Sciences and the Southeast Asia Program. Her research bridges phonetics, phonology, and sociolinguistics, with a focus on Austronesian languages of Indonesia and language shift dynamics. She investigates the interplay between abstract sound patterns (phonology) and their physical realization (phonetics), emphasizing laboratory phonology methods. Her work on Indonesian sociolinguistics examines how young Indonesians' shift to using Indonesian as a first language impacts local languages' structural integrity.

Dr. Cohn's Fulbright Senior Research Scholarship (2012-2013) supported her project at Unika Atma Jaya on language contact in Indonesia, analyzing Sundanese-Indonesian interactions. She co-edited The Oxford Handbook of Laboratory Phonology and serves as co-editor-in-chief of Linguistics Vanguard. Her teaching spans foundational and advanced courses like Phonology I and II, guiding students in independent research and honors theses.

Her research methodologies include experimental phonetics, sociolinguistic surveys, and corpus analysis. Current projects address language endangerment in majority-spoken languages and the role of multilingualism in structural language change.

• Awards: Fulbright Senior Research Scholar (2012-2013)
• Key Projects: Language Contact in Indonesia, Indonesian Language Shift Dynamics
• Editorial Roles: Co-Editor-in-Chief, Linguistics Vanguard; Co-Editor, Oxford Handbook of Laboratory Phonology