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Haiyong LiuView profile

Professor

• Linguistics
• Chinese Syntax
• Language Acquisition
• +9 more

Haiyong Liu is a Professor in the Department of Classical and Modern Languages, Literatures and Cultures and Linguistics Program at Wayne State University. He serves as Director of the Linguistics Program and Coordinator of Chinese. His research focuses on Chinese syntax, language acquisition, pedagogy, and topics such as classifiers, animacy effects, object omission, and pronoun usage. He holds a Ph.D. in Linguistics from UCLA, an M.A. from Wayne State University, and a B.A. from Peking University. Research Interests : Chinese syntax and semantics, with a focus on classifier systems, aspectual marking, and pronoun usage Cross-linguistic comparison of syntactic phenomena (e.g., object omission, negation) Second language acquisition of Mandarin, particularly among English speakers Applications of non-verbal communication in language teaching Recent Research Trends : His recent work emphasizes animacy effects in Mandarin grammar, the morphosyntactic encoding of counterfactuality, and comparative studies of object ellipsis between Chinese and English. Articles published in 2025 explore pronoun usage differences between Chinese and English from animacy and pro-drop perspectives. Awards : 2025-2026 Marilyn Williamson Faculty Fellowship ($15,000) 2018-2019 CHCI-CCKF Summer Institute Grant ($50,000) 2012-2014 Career Development Chair Grant ($19,000) Teaching & Leadership : Directs the Linguistics Program and teaches courses like Business Chinese, Chinese Phonetics, and Grammar of Chinese. Advises students in both linguistics and Chinese language studies. Research Initiatives : Co-founded the China Institute , focusing on Sino-Western academic exchanges through projects like the 2019 Summer Institute exploring 'Space in Two Cities.'

• Semantics
• Pragmatics
• Syntax-Semantics Interface
• +3 more

Paul H. Portner is a Professor of Linguistics at Georgetown University, specializing in semantics and pragmatics with a focus on their interfaces with syntax. He holds a Ph.D. in Linguistics from the University of Massachusetts Amherst (1992) under Barbara Partee, following an A.B. in Philosophy from Princeton University (1987). His research explores mood systems, speech style particles, and the syntax-semantics interface, with funded projects on clause types and gradable modals. He has led summer schools on topics like 'Mood in Semantics and Pragmatics' (2018) and 'Tense and Aspect' (2022). Portner’s work appears in top journals like Language and Natural Language Semantics , and he authored Mood (Oxford, 2018). His funded research includes NSF grants exploring honorific meaning and speaker-addressee dynamics. Research Interests: Portner’s work centers on formal semantics and pragmatics, particularly mood variation, modality, and discourse semantics. He investigates how grammatical structures encode social relations, with contributions to understanding imperative clauses, deontic modals, and the syntax-pragmatics interface. His recent projects include a book on Social Relations in Semantics and Pragmatics (Oxford, under contract). Teaching & Outreach: Teaches courses like Semantics and Pragmatics and Syntax-Semantics Interface . Has organized summer schools at MIT, ENS Paris, and CreteLing, focusing on cutting-edge topics in linguistic theory. Advising & Grants: Co-PI on NSF grants (BCS-0234278, BCS-1053038). Advises graduate students in semantics/pragmatics and collaborates widely with researchers like Aynat Rubinstein and Miok Pak.

• Historical Linguistics
• Comparative Linguistics
• Romance Languages
• +3 more

Prof. Maria Kitova-Vasileva holds the rank of Professor at New Bulgarian University's Department of Romance and German Studies. She teaches courses in historical linguistics and comparative language studies. With dual doctorates (1983 PhD and 2002 DSc), her career spans over five decades, including academic leadership roles and international collaborations. She specializes in Spanish historical linguistics, comparative Romance language studies, and epistemic modality systems. Education: PhD (1983) and DSc (2002) in Philology from Sofia University International affiliations: International Association for Spanish Language History, International Association of Spanish Language Educators Editorial roles: Chief editor of Filologia (1994-1999), Coleccion Linguistica (2001) Her research focuses on modal categories, temporal reference systems, and the historical development of Romance languages. Over 50+ publications include monographs on Spanish verb systems and edited volumes on linguistic theory. She has lectured at universities in Madrid, Stockholm, Salamanca, and Lugo.

• General Linguistics
• Indo-European Linguistics
• Comparative Linguistics
• +5 more

Prof. Maria Kitova-Vasileva is a Professor at New Bulgarian University's Department of Romance and German Studies. She holds a Doctor of Science degree in Philological Sciences (2002) and has been a Professor since 2006. Her research focuses on general linguistics, Indo-European studies, comparative Romance linguistics, and the history of the Spanish language. She has published extensively on topics such as modal categories in Spanish, historical syntax, and cross-linguistic morphosyntactic comparisons. She teaches courses on language history, comparative linguistics, and Spanish in the Americas. Education: B.A. in Spanish Philology from Sofia University (1972), Ph.D. in 1983, and Doctor of Philological Sciences in 2002. She completed postgraduate studies in Linguistics in Colombia and specialized in Indo-European linguistics at Sofia University. Professional Activities: Member of international associations including the International Association for Spanish Language History and the Bulgarian Association of Hispanists. She has lectured at universities in Madrid, Stockholm, Salamanca, Barcelona, and others. Her publications include over 40 monographs, studies, and articles, focusing on historical linguistics, modal systems, and language evolution. Academic Contributions: Has authored textbooks on Spanish morphology and syntax, and her recent works explore the origins of linguistic science and ancient writing systems. She coordinates courses on the science of language and ancient civilizations at NBU.

Ana ArreguiView profile

Professor

• Natural Language Semantics
• Modality
• Tense and Aspect
• +2 more

Professor Ana Arregui specializes in natural language semantics at University of Massachusetts Amherst, researching modality, tense, aspect, pronouns, and indefinites. Examines psycholinguistic processing of meaning through experimental and theoretical approaches. Teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in semantics and linguistic theory. As department website manager, oversees digital presence for Linguistics Department. Current research investigates temporal interpretation in language and cross-linguistic variation in semantic structures.

• Contrastive Linguistics
• Historical Linguistics
• Semantics
• +3 more

Anu Treikelder is a Lecturer in French Language and Linguistics at the University of Tartu’s Department of Romance Studies, affiliated with the College of Foreign Languages and Cultures. She also serves as Programme Director for the Teacher of Foreign Languages MA programme. Her career spans over three decades in academia, including roles as Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Philosophy (2008–2013) and Programme Director for Romance Studies (2006–present). Education: She holds a Doctor’s Degree (2006) and a Research Master’s Degree (1997) from the University of Tartu and University of Paris VII Denis Diderot, respectively. Her doctoral research focused on the semantics and contextual usage of the passé composé in Old French, contrasting it with modern French. Research interests include contrastive linguistics, historical linguistics, and semantics, with a focus on French-Estonian language comparisons. She leads projects like the Estonian-French science cooperation program’s “Surprise Questions from a Comparative Perspective” (2019–present) and has directed the University of Tartu’s contrastive linguistics research group (2013–2015). Awards: Knight of the Palmes Académiques (France, 2013). Her work emphasizes corpus-based studies, learner language analysis, and the pragmatics of modal verbs and temporal structures. Administrative roles include membership in councils for Master’s programs in Linguistics/Translation Studies and Teacher Training, and organizing international conferences on linguistics (e.g., 2006 Aspect in Languages conference). Publications: Over 50 works, including articles on verb routines in learner French, surprise questions in Estonian and French, and the syntactic/semantic contrasts of modal verbs across languages. She co-leads the development of the ScientEst FLE learner corpus for French academic discourse.

Irina NikolaevaView profile

Professor

• General Linguistics
• Linguistic Typology
• Syntax
• +4 more

Irina Nikolaeva is a Professor of Linguistics at the University of London's School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), where she joined in 2007 as Lecturer in Endangered Languages and was promoted to professor in 2011. She served as Head of the Linguistics Department from 2012 to 2017. Her academic journey includes positions at the University of Oxford (Research Fellow and Tutor in Linguistics, 2004–2007), University of Konstanz (Research Fellow, 2000–2004), Central European University (Tutor in Linguistics, 1993–1995), and the Institute of Linguistics at the Russian Academy of Sciences (Research Fellow, 1990–1993). Education: BA and MA from Moscow, Candidate degree (equivalent to PhD) from Moscow, ABD from San Diego, PhD from Leiden. Nikolaeva's research focuses on linguistic typology, theoretical morphosyntax, and the documentation of endangered Siberian languages. She has produced reference grammars, dictionaries, text collections, and teaching materials for minority communities in the Russian North. Her publications span topics like finiteness, TAM marking on nouns, and information structure across languages. Scientific Awards : Women of Discovery Award (2008) Fellow of the British Academy (2019) Her work emphasizes empirical data from understudied languages to inform universal linguistic theories. She has collaborated with institutions in Hungary, Germany, and the UK, contributing to both academic scholarship and public-facing linguistic resources.

Matthias EitelmannView profile

Senior Lecturer

• Historical Linguistics
• Corpus Linguistics
• Morphology
• +4 more

Matthias Eitelmann is a Senior Academic Councillor in the Department of English Linguistics at the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz. He holds a PhD (2009) and a habilitation (project: "End-weight from a Synchronic and Diachronic Perspective"). His research focuses on historical linguistics, morphology, corpus linguistics, and sociopolitical language analysis. Notable works include studies on the Old English epic Beowulf, the morphological evolution of the -ish suffix, and linguistic features in Donald Trump's discourses. Research interests span morphological derivation, language variation, diachronic syntax, and corpus-driven approaches. Recent publications emphasize approximation markers in English, contrastive dialectal syntax, and theoretical implications of grammatical reorganization. He has co-edited volumes on morphology, political language, and historical linguistic studies. Publications reflect a blend of monographs (e.g., Beowulf's Beorh), edited collections (e.g., Extravagant Morphology), and peer-reviewed essays in journals like Zeitschrift für Wortbildung and English Language and Linguistics . His work bridges traditional linguistic analysis with digital methods, addressing challenges in modern English linguistics education and research. Academic contributions include editorships on Trump's language, morphological theory, and Germanic language histories. Teaching innovations, such as the LINGUA introductory course, are documented in pedagogical studies. No explicit awards are listed, but his active publication record indicates scholarly recognition.

Carlos HendersonView profile

Senior Lecturer

• Spanish Linguistics
• Tense and Aspect
• Language Variation
• +5 more

Carlos Henderson is a Senior Lecturer and Manager of Research and Research Education at the Spanish Studies department within Lund University's Centre for Languages and Literature. He holds a PhD in Spanish Linguistics from Stockholm University (2010), specializing in tense usage across Spanish dialects. His academic roles include directorship in research education and membership on the board for the Master of Arts in Language and Linguistics program. Research interests span Spanish linguistics with focus areas including: Tense and aspect systems (especially Perfect tense) Historical evolution of Spanish in Latin America and Spain Pedagogical approaches to Spanish grammar instruction Anglicisms in Spanish-speaking communities Second language acquisition of modal variation His publications demonstrate consistent focus on Spanish morphosyntax across dialects, with recent work examining tense indifference in Mexican/Spanish variants and Anglicisms. Earlier research analyzed historical epistolary corpora and L2 learner perception. Administrative responsibilities include managing research education for Spanish Studies and serving as safety representative. He teaches undergraduate/master's courses in Spanish grammar, linguistics, and language variation.

• Linguistics
• Translation Studies
• Comparative Syntax
• +3 more

Dr. Silvia Mihailesku serves as a Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Modern Languages , Department for Language Teaching, at the St. Cyril and St. Methodius University of Veliko Tarnovo . Her work focuses on Romanian-Bulgarian linguistic parallels, Balkan language contact phenomena, and translation theory. Research Themes: Balkan linguistic convergence, Romanian-Bulgarian syntactic comparison, translation strategies, verbal aspect theory, and CEFR-based language education Projects: Participates in international academic networks for sustainable collaboration between institutions in Serbia, Poland, and Romania Publications: Specializes in contrastive syntax, modal systems, and lexicographical studies between Romance and Slavic languages Education: PhD holder in linguistic disciplines Article Trends show consistent focus on Romanian-Bulgarian language contact, with keywords spanning verbal aspect , presumptive mood , and quantitative expressions . Her sub-fields include syntactic transformation , lexical borrowing , and CEFR implementation .

• Bulgarian Linguistics
• Grammar and Syntax
• Morphology
• +5 more

Verka Sasheva Ivanova is an Associate Professor in the Department of Modern Bulgarian Language at the Faculty of Modern Languages, St. Cyril and St. Methodius University of Veliko Tarnovo. With a PhD in Bulgarian Linguistics, she has established herself as a prominent scholar specializing in Bulgarian grammar, syntax, morphology, and pragmatics. Her academic career spans over two decades with continuous scholarly contributions to the field. Dr. Ivanova's research focuses on the structural and functional aspects of the Bulgarian language, with particular expertise in grammatical particles, verb constructions, and spoken language phenomena. Her work bridges theoretical linguistics with practical applications in language teaching and standardization. She has examined linguistic phenomena across various registers, including conversational speech, artistic texts, and official documentation. Her recent publications (2020-2025) demonstrate a sustained research trajectory examining modal constructions, impersonal-predicative elements, discourse markers, and language change phenomena. These works reveal her systematic approach to analyzing the evolving nature of Bulgarian while maintaining rigorous theoretical frameworks. Her research shows particular interest in the intersection of grammatical structure and pragmatic function. Research Interests: Bulgarian grammar, syntax, morphology, pragmatics, language teaching, historical linguistics Key Contributions: Analysis of "da" constructions, impersonal-predicative words, conversational particles, language change patterns Dr. Ivanova has participated in significant research projects including "Bulgarian Language in the Globalized World" (2022) which examined challenges facing Bulgarian linguistics in contemporary contexts, and the "Proglas" project (2020-2021) focused on academic publishing in linguistics. Her scholarly work appears in leading Bulgarian linguistic journals and international publications, demonstrating both national and international recognition of her expertise.

• Chinese Linguistics
• Historical Syntax
• Tense and Aspect
• +3 more

Dr. Barbara Meisterernst is an Adjunct Professor affiliated with the Institut für Asien- und Afrikawissenschaften (Institute for Asian and African Studies) at Humboldt University of Berlin. She earned her doctorate in 1998 from Westfälische Wilhelms Universität Münster and completed her habilitation at the University of Hamburg in 2012. Since 2010, she has led the DFG-funded project "Die diachrone Entwicklung der Verbalphrase im Prä-Tang Chinesisch: Aspekt und Modalität vom klassischen zum frühmittelalterlichen Chinesisch" (The Diachronic Development of the Verb Phrase in Pre-Tang Chinese). Her academic roles include guest professorships at Humboldt University and Ghent University, and she serves as a lecturer at the China Center. Her research focuses on Chinese historical linguistics , with specialized interests in syntactic evolution, tense-aspect systems, and modality in Classical to early medieval Chinese. She extensively analyzes Buddhist texts, Sogdian-Chinese translations, and temporal grammar in historical manuscripts. Her work bridges philology, manuscript studies, and linguistic theory to explore diachronic changes in Chinese grammar. Meisterernst's publications predominantly investigate Han Dynasty Chinese syntax, covering negation patterns, modal verbs, aspectual markers, and temporal expressions. Her research also encompasses Buddhist literature and cross-cultural textual analysis, reflecting interdisciplinary engagement with linguistics and religious studies. Awards and Fellowships: Lise-Meitner Postdoctoral Fellowship (1999-2001) Research Projects: DFG Project Leader: Diachronic verb phrase development in pre-Tang Chinese (since 2010) Researcher: Turfanforschung project (2005-2007, 2008-2010) at Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences

• Theoretical Linguistics
• Syntax
• Morphology
• +3 more

Anna Roussou serves as Professor of Linguistics at the Department of Philology, University of Patras since 2012, specializing in theoretical syntax and its interfaces. Her academic journey includes faculty positions at Bangor University (1992-1998) and University of Cyprus (1998-2001) before her current appointment. Her research focuses on Theoretical Linguistics with expertise in syntax, morphology, and semantics. Key research areas include complement clauses, complement markers, questions, empty subjects, transitivity, voice alternations, grammaticalization, and psycholinguistics. Her methodological approach combines theoretical analysis with comparative and diachronic perspectives. Her publication profile shows consistent output in high-impact venues with a clear trajectory toward increasingly complex syntactic phenomena. The articles demonstrate specialization in Greek syntax while maintaining cross-linguistic relevance, particularly in Balkan and Indo-European languages. Recent work shows expansion into markedness theory and complexity metrics. Academic Visiting Fellow, MIT Linguistics and Philosophy (1997, 2009) Honorary Research Fellow, UCL Linguistics (2006-2007) Visiting Professor, University of Florence (2018) Lewis-Gibson Research Fellow, Cambridge Centre for Hellenic Studies (2022) British Academy Academic Visiting Fellow, University of Cambridge (2013) Roussou has held significant administrative roles including Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs at University of Patras (2010-2013), Vice-President for Research at Hellenic Open University (2017-2019), and Director of the Greek Language and Culture Laboratory (2016-2022). She served on the National Council for Research and Innovation (2016-2019) and Lifelong Learning Council (2013). She directed the Greek Language and Culture Laboratory at University of Patras from 2016-2022, which focused on theoretical and applied linguistics research with emphasis on Greek language structure, acquisition, and teaching methodologies. The laboratory fostered collaborations between theoretical linguists and language educators.

• Formal Semantics of Natural Languages
• Temporal Logic
• Modal Logic
• +4 more

Fabio Del Prete is a Research Officer at the Cognition, Languages, Language, Ergonomics (CLLE) laboratory, affiliated with the University of Toulouse Jean Jaurès . His work bridges formal semantics, modal logic, and linguistic theory through rigorous analysis of natural language phenomena. Research Themes : Formal Semantics of Tense, Aspect, and Modality; Temporal Connectives; Scalar Approximation Adverbials; Modal Logic; Discourse Semantics; Event Concatenation Key Collaborations : Universitat Pompeu Fabra (Barcelona), Oxford University Press, Walter de Gruyter, CNRS Research Trends in his recent work include: Event concatenation in Sicilian verbal constructions Modal logic foundations for natural language semantics Cross-linguistic studies of temporal connectives Sign language temporal processing Italian polysemous adverbials Counterfactual conditionals in Romance languages Scientific Contributions include: Formal analysis of Sicilian Doubly Inflected Constructions Modal logic frameworks for temporal semantics Discourse presupposition models Experimental studies on temporal connectives Academic Activities span lectures at Universitat Pompeu Fabra, contributions to Genericity (Oxford University Press), and collaborative studies with leading institutions like ILLC Amsterdam and Institut Jean-Nicod.

Zhiguo XieView profile

Associate Professor

• Chinese Linguistics
• Syntax-Semantics Interface
• Epistemic Modality
• +3 more

Zhiguo Xie is an Associate Professor in the Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures at The Ohio State University. His research focuses on Chinese linguistics, particularly the syntax-semantics interface, epistemic modality, degree constructions, and bilingualism in Chinese contexts. He holds a PhD in Linguistics from Cornell University (2011) and an MBA from The Ohio State University (2024). His research emphasizes empirical data-driven analysis of linguistic structures, exploring how descriptive accuracy and theoretical frameworks inform each other. Current projects include studies on modal expressions, degree constructions in Chinese, and qualitative bilingualism research. He teaches courses ranging from undergraduate Chinese culture surveys to advanced graduate seminars in syntax and semantics. Xie advises undergraduate, master's, and doctoral students in Chinese syntax, semantics, sociolinguistics, and bilingualism. He has published extensively on Mandarin Chinese syntax, semantics, and comparative linguistic studies, with a focus on formal linguistic theory and crosslinguistic comparisons. His teaching portfolio includes courses such as 'Traditional Chinese Culture,' 'The Chinese Language,' and specialized graduate courses like 'Chinese Syntax' and 'Studies in Chinese Historical Syntax.' He is also actively involved in the Department's research seminar program and contributes to interdisciplinary linguistic studies.