Andrew Hoffman received his B.A. in German from Juniata College in 2012 and his M.A. in Germanic Linguistics from the University at Buffalo (SUNY) in 2016.  He is now a PhD candidate (ABD) in German Linguistics and Language Science at Penn State.  His dissertation focuses on the role of “markedness” (in its many senses) as it relates to language change in Gottscheerisch.  His other research interests include German (specifically Southern Bavarian) dialectology, morphosyntax, phonology, typology, and language documentation and preservation.