Dr DeChicchis has a doctorate in linguistics, a Masters degree in cognitive studies, and undergraduate training in philosophy and mathematics. He is a member of the Semiotic Society of America, a Founding Member of the Endangered Language Fund, and (in the UK) a Fellow of the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce.

 

He has conducted significant research and dissemination on general language policy, computational encoding and archiving of documents, human-machine interface design, documentary evidence, orthography design, international legal translation, and world heritage languages. He is also a skilled ethnographer, who has published well known descriptions of the Ainu in Japan and the Qʼeqchiꞌ Maya in Guatemala and Belize.

 

In addition to using Spanish, French, Italian, Japanese, German, and other foreign languages, Dr DeChicchis is familiar with the major dialects of English, especially the Northern Midlands dialect area of American English, including local sociolects of AAVE (African American Vernacular English, also known as Black English Vernacular or Ebonics) and Western Pennsylvania English.

 

Such linguistic skills are essential in the management of oral history transcriptions and the curation of immigrants' written correspondence. Because of the importance of Polish and South Slavic dialects in the Historic Elizabeth area, we will actively recruit a staffer with Slavic language skills. Dr DeChicchis is also competent to handle the occasional curation of 18th Century materials containing Iroquoian or Algonquian vocabulary.