Roland Pfau

Roland Pfau is a faculty member at the Faculty of Humanities, University of Amsterdam, affiliated with the Capaciteitsgroep Taalwetenschap department. His research spans multiple areas in sign language linguistics, including grammaticalization, syntax, morphology, and language preservation. Pfau has contributed extensively to studies on negation markers, non-manual expressions, and role shift phenomena across various sign languages like Turkish Sign Language (TİD), Sign Language of the Netherlands (NGT), and Adamorobe Sign Language.

Recent publications highlight his focus on corpus-based analyses of negation, headshake patterns, and metaphorical extensions in sign languages. Pfau is also involved in the SIGN-HUB project, which aims to create a digital platform for sign language preservation and assessment tools for clinical and educational settings. His work intersects theoretical linguistics with practical applications for Deaf communities and linguistic heritage.