Martin Haspelmath

Martin Haspelmath is a Senior Research Scientist at the Department of Linguistic and Cultural Evolution at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (MPI-EVA), Leipzig, and an honorary (adjunct) professor at Leipzig University. His research focuses on comparative linguistics, language universals, and typology, particularly in syntactic and morphological systems. He co-edited the World Atlas of Language Structures (2005/2013) and co-founded Language Science Press.

Education:

• PhD in Linguistics, Freie Universität Berlin (1990–1993)
• MA in Linguistics, University of Cologne and University at Buffalo (1985–1989)
• Undergraduate studies in Linguistics, University of Vienna (1983–1985)

Research Interests: Haspelmath investigates global grammatical diversity, form-function correspondences, and universals in syntax, morphology, and lexical systems. His work emphasizes comparative concepts for cross-linguistic analysis and critiques traditional grammatical categories.

Grants & Projects:

• ERC project leader at Leipzig University (2015–2020)
• Co-creator of Grambank, an open-access database of grammatical structures
• Leading initiatives for open-access publication and linguistic data sharing

Labs/Teams: Active in the MPI's Department of Linguistic and Cultural Evolution, collaborating on projects like APICS (Atlas of Pidgin and Creole Language Structures) and ValPal (Valency Patterns Leipzig).