ESP Biography



MARY MARKLEY, Master's student in historical linguistics!




Major: linguistics

College/Employer: Stanford

Year of Graduation: G

Picture of Mary Markley

Brief Biographical Sketch:

I just finished my undergrad degree at Stanford with a double major in linguistics and German studies! Now, I'm so lucky to be continuing my studies here as a grad student in linguistics, which I absolutely LOVE to talk about with anyone who will listen. Because of this, I'm super excited to teach at Splash and share the world of linguistics with some new people! I also love to bake (but I'm not sure if that's because I actually like cooking or just because I'm addicted to eating desserts), paint, and climb trees. Please ask me about anything related to ANY word or ANY language (real or fictional!). I'd love to talk to you!



Past Classes

  (Clicking a class title will bring you to the course's section of the corresponding course catalog)

L7983: Linguistic Archaeology in Splash Spring 2024 (May. 18 - 19, 2024)
Proto-Indo-Europeans lived in the late Neolithic period and left very little archaeological evidence. But we do know very specific things about them—their patrilineal society, their focus on animal husbandry, their lack of understanding of silver smelting. How? Their words. No one speaks their language today, but we do have reconstructions of their words based on languages that descended from Proto-Indo-European—languages as diverse as Bengali, Armenian, and English. Archaeology’s not just digging in the dirt. Come explore how old words can be put together to make discoveries, and how regular sound changes can tell us what words people were using thousands of years ago. We will reconstruct ancient words and show how they can be adapted to fit other languages. You'll learn how different languages have different sets of sounds, and how we can use these sounds to plumb the depths of the past. We'll talk about the history of individual words and languages, as well as general patterns of change.


H7708: Linguistic Archaeology in Splash Spring 2022 (May. 14 - 15, 2022)
Proto-Indo-Europeans lived in the late Neolithic period and left very little archaeological evidence. But we do know very specific things about them—their patrilineal society, their focus on animal husbandry, their lack of understanding of silver smelting. How? Their words. No one speaks their language today, but we do have reconstructions of their words based on languages that descended from Proto-Indo-European—languages as diverse as Bengali, Armenian, and English. Archaeology’s not just digging in the dirt. Come explore how old words can be put together to make discoveries, and how regular sound changes can tell us what words people were using thousands of years ago. We will reconstruct ancient words and show how they can be adapted to fit other languages. You'll learn how different languages have different sets of sounds, and how we can use these sounds to plumb the depths of the past. We'll talk about the history of individual words and languages, as well as general patterns of change.


H7533: Linguistic Archaeology in Splash Fall 2019 (Nov. 16 - 17, 2019)
Proto-Indo-Europeans lived in the late Neolithic period and left very little archaeological evidence. But we do know very specific things about them—their patrilineal society, their focus on animal husbandry, their lack of understanding of silver smelting. How? Their words. No one speaks their language today, but we do have reconstructions of their words based on languages that descended from Proto-Indo-European—languages as diverse as Bengali, Armenian, and English. Archaeology’s not just digging in the dirt. Come explore how old words can be put together to make discoveries, and how regular sound changes can tell us what words people were using thousands of years ago. We will reconstruct words and show how they can be adapted to fit other languages.


H7249: Linguistic Archaeology in Splash Spring 2019 (May. 04 - 05, 2019)
Proto-Indo-Europeans lived in the late Neolithic period and left very little archaeological evidence. But we do know very specific things about them—their patrilineal society, their focus on animal husbandry, their lack of understanding of silver smelting. How? Their words. No one speaks their language today, but we do have reconstructions of their words based on languages that descended from Proto-Indo-European—languages as diverse as Bengali, Armenian, and English. Archaeology’s not just digging in the dirt. Come explore how old words can be put together to make discoveries, and how regular sound changes can tell us what words people were using thousands of years ago. We will reconstruct words and show how they can be adapted to fit other languages.


H6795: Linguistic Archaeology in Splash Fall 2018 (Dec. 01 - 02, 2018)
Proto-Indo-Europeans lived in the late Neolithic period and left very little archaeological evidence. But we do know very specific things about them—their patrilineal society, their focus on animal husbandry, their lack of understanding of silver smelting. How? Their words. No one speaks their language today, but we do have reconstructions of their words based on languages that descended from Proto-Indo-European—languages as diverse as Bengali, Armenian, and English. Archaeology’s not just digging in the dirt. Come explore how old words can be put together to make discoveries, and how regular sound changes can tell us what words people were using thousands of years ago. We will reconstruct words and show how they can be adapted to fit other languages.