K. David Harrison

Who is K. David Harrison?

K. David Harrison is a linguist, author and activist for the documentation and preservation of endangered languages teaching at Swarthmore College and affiliated with the National Geographic Society. His research focuses on the Turkic languages of central Siberia and western Mongolia. He co-starred in Ironbound Films' Emmy-nominated 2008 documentary film The Linguists. He serves as director of research for the non-profit Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languages.

Harrison has done field work on endangered languages in Siberia and Mongolia Tuvan, Tsengel Tuvan, Tofa, Ös, Tuha, Monchak, Munda, and also in Paraguay, Papua New Guinea, and India. He specializes in phonology, particularly vowel harmony, and in the study of language endangerment, extinction, and revitalization.