Ramakrishnan Karthick Narayanan

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"ஏன் என்ற கேள்வி இங்கு கேட்காமல் வாழ்க்கை இல்லை...
...பகுத்தறிவு பிறந்ததெல்லாம் கேள்விகள் கேட்டதனாலே"

- Vaali (வாலி)

About Me

R. Karthick Narayanan is a linguist and archivist specializing in community-centered research on minor Indian languages, focusing on the intersections of language, culture, and technology. In 2024, he was honored with the SPARROW-R Thyagarajan Literary Award for his work on Toda verbal art in Tamil and English, recognizing his dedication to documenting marginalized languages.

Dr. Karthick holds a PhD in Linguistics from Jawaharlal Nehru University, India, specializing in sociolinguistics, language documentation, and conservation. His research examines multilingualism in India, exploring critical questions about the organization and use of languages within multilingual communities, the dynamics of language choice, and the factors contributing to the marginalization of minority languages.

In addition to his work on multilingualism, Dr. Karthick is committed to digitally archiving linguistic and cultural data. His archiving practice engages with questions of ethical stewardship and community-centered ownership, striving to reimagine the archive as a participatory, dynamic space. He actively supports language revitalization initiatives by collaborating with communities to record, annotate, describe, and archive linguistic resources.

Currently, Dr. Karthick serves as the Chief Community and Data Officer at UnReal TecE LLP. Previously, he held a postdoctoral fellowship at the Moturi Satyanarayana Centre for Advanced Study in the Humanities and Social Sciences at Krea University, where he advanced his research through theoretical and practical applications.

Doctor of Philosophy, Linguistics

Institution: Jawaharlal Nehru University

Duration: 2014-2019

Master of Philosophy, Linguistics

Institution: Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi

Duration: 2012-2014

Master of Arts, Linguistics

Institution: Jawaharlal Nehru University

Duration: 2010-2012

Bachelor of Education, English Language Teaching

Institution: Tamilnadu Teacher Education University

Duration: 2009-2010

Bachelor of Arts, English

Institution: Loyola College, Chennai

Duration: 2006-2009

Post-Doctoral & Work Experience



  • Chief Community and Data Officer
    UnReal TecE LLP, Agra, Uttar Pradesh
    August 2024 - Present
  • Post-Doctoral Fellow
    Moturi Satyanarayana Centre for Advanced Study in the Humanities and Social Sciences, Krea University, Sricity, Andhra Pradesh
    February 2022 - March 2024
  • Senior Resource Person
    Orthography Development for Languages of North-East India, Central Institute of Indian Languages, Ministry of Education, Mysuru, Karnataka
    October 2021 - January 2022
  • Teaching Faculty
    Department of Linguistics, Central University of Karnataka, Kalaburagi, Karnataka
    January 2021 - June 2021
  • Research Associate cum Digital Archivist
    Center For Endangered Languages, Sikkim University, Gangtok, Sikkim
    October 2019 - September 2020


Pre-Doctoral Research Experience



  • Junior Resource Person
    Scheme of Protection and Preservation of Endangered Languages, Central Institute of Indian Languages, Mysore, Karnataka
    July 2014 - December 2014
  • Research Assistant
    Toda Oral Literature Project, Center for Oral and Tribal Literature, Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi
    April 2015 - January 2016
  • Junior Resource Person
    Scheme of Protection and Preservation of Endangered Languages, Rongpa and Spiti, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
    July 2016 - December 2016


Pre-Doctoral Research Teaching Experience



  • Course Teacher
    B.A. Introduction to Phonetics, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
    August 2015 - December 2015
  • Fieldworks and Data Digitization Tutor
    M.A. Field Methods, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
    August 2015 - November 2015
  • Fieldworks and Data Digitization Tutor
    M.A. Field Methods, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
    August 2016 - November 2016

Publications

Book

  • Narayanan, R. Karthick and Vasamalli K. Maarum Ulagil Maraiyaa Oligal Thodar Vaimozhi Ilakkiyathin Oru Thoguppu ("Enduring Voices in the Changing Times: A Collection of Toda Oral Literature") [Tamil Book]. Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi, 2017. ISBN: 978-81-260-5344-5.

Journals Published in India

  • Narayanan, R. Karthick. "Assessing Language Endangerment: A Methodological Review." Language in India, vol. 19, no. 7, 2019, pp. 128-145. Publisher: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.
  • Narayanan, R. Karthick. "Made in India: SiDHELA, India’s First Endangered Language Archive." DESIDOC Journal of Library and Information Technology, vol. 40, no. 5, 2020, pp. 292-299. Publisher: DRDO. DOI: 10.14429/djlit.40.05.16349.
  • Shankar Narayanan, Aravind Illa, Nayan Anand, Narayanan, R. Karthick, Ganesh Sinisetty, and Prasanta Kumar Ghosh. "An Acoustic Investigation on the Effect of Speaking Rate on Vowel Space and Coarticulation in Toda VCV Sequences." Sadhana, vol. 46, 2021, pp. 1-12. Publisher: Indian Academy of Sciences. DOI: 10.1007/s12046-021-01639-8.

Journals Published Abroad

  • Hima, Ktien, and Narayanan, R. Karthick. "Rokdung (Sikkim, India) Language Contexts." Language Documentation and Description, vol. 19, 2020, pp. 66-78. Publisher: ELPublishing. PID: http://www.elpublishing.org/PID/209.
  • Narayanan, R. Karthick, and Meiraba Takhellambam. "A Collaboratory Model for Creation of Digital Language Archives in India." The Electronic Library, vol. 40, no. 5, 2022, pp. 594-606. Publisher: Emerald Insight. DOI: 10.1108/EL-02-2022-0030.

Book Chapters

  • Narayanan, R. Karthick. "Tradition vs Aspiration: Gender Differences and Language Shift." In Linguistic Diversity in South and Southeast Asia, edited by Anvita Abbi and Kapila Vatsyayan, Primus Books, 2022, pp. 203-216. ISBN: 978-93-91144-18-0.

Conference Proceedings

  • Narayanan, R. Karthick, and Meiraba Takhellambam. "Emerging Role of Libraries in Language Archiving in India: A Case Study of SiDHELA." In Proceedings of the International Workshop on Digital Language Archives: LangArc 2021, edited by Oksana L. Zavalina and Shobhana L. Chelliah, 2021, pp. 5-7.
  • Narayanan, R. Karthick. "Traditional Religious-Cultural Practices & Reversing Language Shift among the Todas of Nilgiri." In Community Ownership of Language Education for Endangered Language Revitalisation, edited by Siri Tuttle, Nicholas Ostler, Wafa Hozien, Steven Krauwer, Salem Mezhoud, Christopher Moseley, Eda Derhemi, and Hakim Elnazarov, 2022, pp. 1-11.
  • Shankar Narayanan, Aravind Illa, Nayan Anand, Narayanan, R. Karthick, Ganesh Sinisetty, and Prasanta Kumar Ghosh. "An Acoustic-Articulatory Database of VCV Sequences and Words in Toda at Different Speaking Rates." In Proceedings of the 22nd Conference of the Oriental COCOSDA, 2019, pp. 1-6.
  • Narayanan, R. Karthick. "Orality and Language Vitality." In Endangered Languages and Oral Traditions: FEL XXVIII, Islamabad, September 2024, pp. 58-63.

Reports

  • Kidwai, A., Tinkari, B., Takhellambam, M., Bhalla, O., Narayanan, R. Karthick, Metha, S., and Sharma, V. “Rongpo Sketch Grammar.” Report submitted to the Scheme of Protection and Preservation of Endangered Languages, Central Institute of Indian Languages, Mysuru, 2016.
  • Kidwai, A., Tinkari, B., Takhellambam, M., Bhalla, O., Narayanan, R. Karthick, Metha, S., and Sharma, V. “Rongpo Dictionary.” Report submitted to the Scheme of Protection and Preservation of Endangered Languages, Central Institute of Indian Languages, Mysuru, 2016.
  • Kidwai, A., Tinkari, B., Narayanan, R. Karthick, and Metha, S. “Rongpo Narrations, Songs and Stories.” Report submitted to the Scheme of Protection and Preservation of Endangered Languages, Central Institute of Indian Languages, Mysuru, 2016.