Elena Bashir

Elena Bashir is a Senior Lecturer Emerita at the University of Chicago's Department of South Asian Languages and Civilizations. Her expertise focuses on the languages of Pakistan, particularly in syntax, typology, and fieldwork-based research. She holds a PhD in Linguistics from the University of Michigan, with a dissertation on Kalasha syntax from an areal and typological perspective.

Her research emphasizes Dardic and Iranian languages of northern Pakistan, including Brahui, Khowar, Shina, and Wakhi. She has conducted extensive fieldwork, examining topics like evidentiality systems, language contact, and morphosyntactic change. Notable contributions include co-editing The Languages and Linguistics of South Asia: A Comprehensive Guide (2016) and publishing foundational studies on South Asian linguistic structures.

Elena teaches Urdu language courses and occasionally offers specialized courses on Pakistan's linguistic diversity. Her work bridges formal linguistic analysis with cultural and historical contexts, contributing to both theoretical linguistics and area studies.