Philomen Probert

Professor Philomen Probert holds a faculty position as Professor of Classical Philology and Linguistics at the University of Oxford's Faculty of Linguistics, Philology and Phonetics, affiliated with the Centre for Linguistics and Philology. Her research focuses on ancient Greek, Latin, Anatolian, and Indo-European linguistics, with emphasis on prehistoric accentuation systems, Graeco-Roman grammatical traditions, and relative clause structures in early languages.

Her work bridges historical linguistics with formal phonological theory, analyzing ancient grammatical texts and contributing to debates on language evolution. Key publications include books on Greek accentuation (2006, 2023) and edited volumes on Indo-European legal linguistics (2012). She has collaborated on computational analyses of ancient Greek semantics and editions of medieval grammatical manuscripts.

Probert's research themes span Anatolian languages, ancient Greek dialectology, and the intersection of classical philology with modern linguistic theory. Her articles frequently explore syntactic patterns in Hittite and Mycenaean texts, demonstrating expertise in comparative methods and diachronic analysis. She actively reviews major works in classical linguistics, contributing to scholarly discourse through peer evaluation of over 30 books and monographs.

• Affiliations: Faculty of Linguistics, Philology & Phonetics; Clarendon Institute
• Labs/Teams: Phonetics Lab, Language & Brain Lab
• Grants: Not explicitly listed, but extensive publication record suggests sustained research funding

Her work integrates theoretical frameworks like Optimality Theory with empirical analysis of ancient texts, maintaining Oxford's tradition of interdisciplinary classical studies. Recent projects include reinterpreting Latin accentuation through Greek grammatical thought and editing critical editions of medieval grammatical manuscripts.