My research area is the structure and functions of languages of multilingual South Asia. I focus primarily on two areas of language science: language contact and Indo-Aryan syntax. The aim of my research is to uncover the regularities underlying both the form (what language is) and sociolinguistic functions (what language does) of natural languages. Understanding language in terms of its formal and socio-functional aspects invites cross-disciplinarity in order to fully comprehend the complex nuances of language structure, acquisition, and use. The cross-disciplinary approach to language in the multilingual context of South Asia makes it possible for us to ask several important theoretical questions: why is the structure of language and language use the way it is; what is the nature of the dynamic of bilingual language contact; what are the sociolinguistic mechanisms of language shift and, in extreme cases, language loss/death?

Specifically, my work on Indo-Aryan syntax has focused on a detailed investigation of Kashmiri. This work on Kashmiri is the first and only one of its kind in the context of modern grammatical theory. The linguistically significant generalizations uncovered in this study present important consequences for a theory of clause structure, verb movement and (grammatical) Case. My work on language contact in India, on the other hand, attempts to (a) formalize the (linguistic and social) principles of bilingual language use: code-switching, and variation in Indian English, and (b) demonstrate sociolinguistic consequences of language contact, focusing mainly on issues of language ideology, language maintenance, and language shift/loss.