Research Unit for Linguistics and Information Science (RULIS)
Overview
| Affiliation | Research Unit affiliated with the Department of Advanced Human Sciences |
|---|---|
| Name | Research Unit for Linguistics and Information Science (RULIS) |
| Funding | JSPS KAKENHI Fund for the Promotion of Joint International Research (International Leading Research), Establishing Spatiotemporal Linguistics: A New Approach to the Interdisciplinary Study of Language History and Human Movement (hereafter, the “Spatiotemporal Linguistics Project”) |
| Funding Program | Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (KAKENHI) |
| Project Period | Spatiotemporal Linguistics Project: November 15, 2024–March 31, 2031 RULIS: December 1, 2025–March 31, 2031 |
Research Overview
The Research Unit for Linguistics and Information Science (RULIS) brings together expertise in linguistics and information science to explore new ways of creating, analyzing, managing, and sharing research data on human language. Its work encompasses diverse forms of linguistic data, including data from spoken and signed languages, and seeks to connect them with geographical, cultural, historical, biological, and other non-linguistic data. Through this integration, RULIS aims to develop research methods and data infrastructures that open new possibilities for the study of language and human diversity.
A central focus of RULIS is the JSPS-funded project Establishing Spatiotemporal Linguistics: A New Approach to the Interdisciplinary Study of Language History and Human Movement (the “Spatiotemporal Linguistics Project”). The project seeks to establish spatiotemporal linguistics, a new field for investigating language change through the integration of temporal and spatial perspectives. Researchers from linguistics, statistics, quantitative linguistics, geography, information science, genetics, and related fields collaborate to develop analytical methods that combine Geographic Information Systems (GIS) with linguistic and non-linguistic data and to explore new theoretical approaches to language change.
The approximately 7,000 spoken and signed languages used around the world today reflect the long history of human movement, contact, and adaptation. Investigating how languages have emerged, diversified, interacted, and changed can therefore contribute not only to reconstructing human history but also to understanding linguistic and cultural diversity in the contemporary world.
RULIS also develops the research infrastructure needed to make such interdisciplinary research possible. This includes the construction and organization of linguistic datasets, the development and implementation of Research Data Management Plans (RDMPs), appropriate management of rights associated with digital research data, and the promotion of open data and open access where appropriate. Particular attention is given to interoperability with existing data resources at the National Museum of Ethnology (Minpaku) and to developing data practices that can be sustained and reused beyond individual research projects.
Through these activities, RULIS aims not only to support the Spatiotemporal Linguistics Project but also to serve as a platform for collaboration among researchers working with linguistic and related data. By bringing linguistics and information science into sustained dialogue, the Unit seeks to develop practical models for the creation, analysis, management, preservation, and sharing of research data that can contribute more broadly to research in the humanities and social sciences.
Members
Head
- KIKUSAWA Ritsuko（Professor, Linguistics）
Research Staff
- YOSHIOKA Noboru（Associate Professor, Linguistics）
- OKAMOTO Susumu（Assistant Professor, Linguistics）
- PHAN Anh（Assistant Professor, Geographic Information Science）
- PANGAN Zachary Samson（Assistant Professor, Information Science and Research Data Management）
- KAWABATA Yuki（Project Research Fellow, Linguistics）
- DENG Jinxuan（Project Research Fellow, Linguistics）
- OKADA Tomohiro（Project Research Fellow, Sign Language Linguistics）
- YANO Uiko（Project Research Fellow, Sign Language Linguistics）
- SHIRAKAWA Ikoi（Project Research Fellow / University Research Administrator（URA））
Technical Staff
- ISOWA Tatsuki（Technical Support for Spoken Language Research）
- HARITANI Yumi（Technical Support for Sign Language Research）
- HARITANI Yumi（Accounting）