David J Beck

David J. Beck is a Professor and Chair of the Department of Linguistics at the University of Alberta. He holds a PhD from the University of Toronto (1999) and an MA from the University of Victoria (1995). His research focuses on fieldwork-driven investigations of endangered languages, particularly in the Totonacan and Salishan language families. Beck is renowned for his decades-long documentation of Upper Necaxa Totonac, a critically endangered language spoken in Mexico, supported by SSHRC funding since 2002. His work emphasizes language contact, grammatical diffusion, and areal typology, with notable contributions to understanding Sprachbund dynamics in Mesoamerica and the Pacific Northwest.

• Editorial Roles: Co-editor of the International Journal of American Linguistics (2014–present) and North American editor for Brill Studies in Native Languages of the Americas
• Teaching: Courses include LING 308 (Morphology) and graduate seminars on linguistic typology
• Key Projects: Upper Necaxa Project, Lushootseed text compilation, and development of SLEXIL documentation software

Beck’s research integrates theoretical linguistics with applied language documentation, addressing issues of morphological complexity, lexical classification, and syntactic variation. His work highlights the interplay between language structure and sociocultural context, particularly in endangered language communities.