Description

This program supports fundamental research in the science of human language, spanning investigations of the grammatical properties of individual languages and natural language in general. Research areas include syntax, semantics, morphology, phonetics, and phonology. The program is particularly interested in interdisciplinary projects that address questions at the intersection of linguistics with psychology, neuroscience, computation, social science, and other disciplines. Example themes include language processing and comprehension, computational properties of language, neurobiological foundations, language acquisition and development, and sociocultural factors in language variation and change.

The program does not fund projects whose primary goal is improved clinical practice, applied policy, or the development or assessment of pedagogical methods or tools for language instruction. It accepts a range of proposal types, including standard research proposals, Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement (LING-DDRI) awards, CAREER proposals, and conference proposals (the latter should follow the NSF PAPPG guidelines for conference support).

Special emphasis is placed on research and infrastructure development for understudied and endangered languages, often in partnership with the National Endowment for the Humanities and through related solicitations such as the Dynamic Language Infrastructure - Documenting Endangered Languages (DLI-DEL) programs.