Theoretical and Comparative Syntax Professors and Supervisors | ApplySharif

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Dietrich StoutView profile

Professor

Emory UniversityUnited States

Dietrich Stout is a Professor and Chair of the Department of Anthropology at Emory University, serving as Director of the CMBC. He holds a Ph.D. in Paleoanthropology from Indiana University, Bloomington (2003), where he was advised by Nicholas Toth and Kathy Schick. Before joining Emory in 2009, he served as a Visiting Assistant Professor at George Washington University (1 year) and a Lecturer in Paleolithic Archaeology at University College London (4 years). His research focuses on the evolution of human cognition through the study of Paleolithic stone tool-making, integrating archaeological fieldwork, experimental tool replication, and neuroimaging techniques. Collaborative projects include the Homo faber: The Language of Technology (NSF & Templeton Foundation-funded) and the Gona Paleoanthropological Research Project in Ethiopia. Key research themes involve exploring the neural foundations of tool-making, comparing human and chimpanzee brain structures, and investigating the relationship between language, technology, and brain evolution. The Paleolithic Technology Laboratory at Emory supports experimental flintknapping, 3D scanning, and advanced neuroimaging collaborations. Stout's work has been featured in major publications like Science and Scientific American , as well as in Emory's Research Spotlight Video on 'Stone Tools and the Evolution of Cognition.' He advises graduate student Megan Beney and collaborates with a global network of institutions, including the Yerkes National Primate Research Center and the British Museum. His research lab employs cutting-edge technologies such as fMRI, DTI, and PET imaging to study the evolutionary neuroscience of cultural evolution.

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Jie XuView profile

Professor

University of MacauMacau SAR

Professor Jie Xu serves as Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities, Director of the Center for Linguistics, and Director of the Confucius Institute at the University of Macau. He holds a PhD from the University of Maryland (USA) and has extensive academic experience across multiple institutions. His research focuses on grammatical theory, Chinese linguistics, and language education. Key areas of study include comparative syntax of Chinese and English, principle-based grammatical analysis, and innovative language use in literary works. He has authored over 20 books and numerous peer-reviewed articles in leading journals like Language and Linguistics and Journal of Chinese Linguistics . Notable contributions include formal analyses of Chinese syntax, studies on language variation in dialects, and theoretical frameworks for linguistic rule violations in creative contexts. Professor Xu teaches advanced courses on Chinese linguistics and has pioneered interdisciplinary research bridging formal grammar and sociolinguistics. Education: PhD (1993) in Linguistics, University of Maryland; MA (1988) in East Asian Linguistics, University of Hawaii; MA (1984) in Chinese Linguistics, Central China Normal University; BA (1981) in Chinese Language and Literature, Henan University. His research explores grammatical universals through Chinese syntax, with recent work addressing sentence structure variability, dialect lexical integration into standard Chinese, and cross-linguistic comparisons of ellipsis phenomena. He collaborates internationally on projects like language policy formulation and pedagogical frameworks for multilingual education.

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Carole SalmonView profile

Professor

Furman UniversityUnited States

Carole Salmon is a Professor of French at Furman University's Department of Modern Languages and Literatures. She specializes in sociolinguistics, with research focusing on French-speaking communities in Louisiana, New England, and North America. Her work examines linguistic and cultural identities in cinema, literature, and migration narratives. Prior to Furman, she taught at the University of Massachusetts Lowell and Louisiana State University, where she completed her Ph.D. in Sociolinguistics. Dr. Salmon has led study abroad programs in Paris and serves as Review Editor for The French Review's Linguistics section. She was honored with the French Government's Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Palmes Académiques (2017) and has been recognized for her teaching excellence. Education: Ph.D. in French Studies (Sociolinguistics), Louisiana State University Maîtrise de lettres modernes, Université de Paris III Sorbonne Nouvelle Licence de lettres modernes, Université de Paris III Sorbonne Nouvelle Research Interests: Cajun French preservation and transmission in Louisiana Francophone identity in Franco-American communities Linguistic variation in New England and Canada Cinema representations of migration and identity Awards: Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Palmes Académiques (2017) Nominated for Manning Prize for Excellence in Teaching (2016) Nominated for LSU Distinguished Dissertation Award (2007) Professional Activities: Past President of Northeast Modern Language Association (NeMLA) Co-editor of multiple volumes on Francophone cinema and linguistics Leader of transnational study abroad programs

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Marta VojtekováView profile

Associate Professor

University of PrešovSlovakia

Assoc. Prof. Marta Vojteková holds the position of Associate Professor at the University of Prešov in Prešov, Faculty of Arts, within the Institute of Central European Studies. Her academic career includes roles since 2003 in Slavic Philology and Slovak Language, with promotions to Associate Professor in 2014. She specializes in Slavic linguistics, focusing on Polish and Slovak morphology, syntax, lexicography, and professional translation. She has conducted research stays at institutions such as Jagiellonian University and Adam Mickiewicz University, and is actively involved in international organizations like the Slovak Linguistic Society and the Slovak-Polish Commission for Humanities Sciences. Her teaching portfolio includes courses like Contemporary Language , Writing Skills , and Professional Translation . Research interests span confrontational grammar, terminological dictionaries, and comparative language studies. She has authored/co-authored over 20 monographs, textbooks, and dictionaries, including notable works on Slavic word formation, anatomical terminology dictionaries, and Slovak-Polish language comparisons. Professional development highlights include certifications in project management, communication skills, and pedagogical training. She serves on editorial boards such as Contacts and maintains international collaborations through Erasmus+ programs. Her work emphasizes multilingual lexicography and applied linguistics in educational contexts.

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Wang JianView profile

Professor

School for Advanced Studies in the Social SciencesFrance

Professor Wang Jian is a Professor of Linguistics in the School of Humanities at Shanghai Jiao Tong University. He earned his doctoral degree in Chinese Linguistics from Peking University in 2005 and completed postdoctoral research at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (2005-2007), Fudan University (2007-2009), and EHESS in Paris (2009-2013) under the ERC Sinotype project. Education and Postdoctoral Experience: Ph.D. in Chinese Linguistics, Peking University, 2005 Postdoctoral Research, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, 2005-2007 Postdoctoral Research, Fudan University, Shanghai, 2007-2009 Postdoctoral Fellow, EHESS, Paris (ERC Sinotype project), 2009-2013 His research centers on language typology, Chinese dialectology, computational linguistics, and applied linguistics, with specialized focus on syntactic phenomena in Gan and Hui dialects including copular systems, modality, aspect, and classifier constructions. His work bridges theoretical linguistics with empirical dialect analysis to map grammatical diversity across Sinitic languages. Analysis of his 2018 conference publications reveals concentrated investigation into understudied Chinese dialects (Gan and Hui), particularly examining functional extensions of core grammatical elements like copulas and classifiers. These studies demonstrate methodological integration of field linguistics with typological frameworks to document endangered linguistic features and their theoretical implications for syntactic theory.

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Gulshen SakhatovaView profile

Assistant Professor

University of CyprusCyprus

Gulshen Sakhatova serves as Assistant Professor in the Department of Turkish and Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Cyprus, with prior academic appointments spanning eight institutions across Germany, Greece, and Turkmenistan. Her international career includes professorships at Georg-August University Göttingen (2017-2020), Aristotle University Thessaloniki (2015), and multiple German universities, alongside repeated visiting positions at the University of Cyprus since 2007. Her academic foundation includes an MA in Philology (German, English and World Literature) from Magtymguly Turkmen State University and a PhD in Turkology/Linguistics from Friedrich Wilhelm University Bonn (2004). This dual expertise enables sophisticated cross-linguistic analysis between Germanic and Turkic language families. Sakhatova's research centers on the structural intricacies of Turkic languages, particularly verb systems and modality phenomena in Turkish, Turkmen, and Cypriot Turkish variants. She investigates linguistic contact effects in multilingual environments, Turkmen's status as a 'degraded' Turkic language, and pedagogical challenges in teaching Turkish to Greek speakers. Her work bridges theoretical linguistics with practical language acquisition frameworks, emphasizing semantic-pragmatic interfaces and historical development pathways. Current research demonstrates strong productivity with 15+ publications since 2021, primarily in specialized linguistics journals and the Societas Uralo-Altaica series. Her output reveals consistent focus on modality systems (35%), dialectology (25%), and language pedagogy (20%), with growing emphasis on Greek-Turkish language contact phenomena through her two active research projects. She currently leads two major funded initiatives: 'A Manual for Language Instructors of Turkish to Greek L1 Learners' (2023-2025) and 'Teaching/Learning Turkish as SL/FL in Greek language classrooms' (2024-2025). These projects address critical gaps in pedagogical resources for Greek-speaking Turkish learners, examining interference patterns and developing context-specific teaching methodologies. Her international collaborations span institutions in Germany, Greece, Russia, and Turkey through co-authored publications and scholarly networks. Students benefit from engagement with active fieldwork projects, corpus development for endangered Turkic varieties, and participation in international academic exchanges. Her supervision emphasizes empirical research in Turkic linguistics with applications to language preservation and pedagogy, particularly relevant for scholars interested in Mediterranean language contact zones.

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Mary DalrympleView profile

Professor

Graz University of TechnologyAustria

Mary Dalrymple is a Professor Emerita of Syntax at the University of Oxford's Faculty of Linguistics, Philology & Phonetics. She previously held the position of Professor of Syntax (2006–2021) and University Lecturer in General Linguistics (2004–2006). Her research focuses on Lexical Functional Grammar (LFG), glue semantics, descriptive and theoretical syntax, and the documentation of Austronesian and Papuan languages. Her major grants and projects include: 2022–2024: Arts and Humanities Research Council-funded project on lexical resources for Enggano 2019–2024: AHRC project analyzing Enggano's linguistic history 2017–2018: SynSem project on integrating linguistics and computing at the Norwegian Academy of Sciences Notable awards include Fellowship of the British Academy (2013) and Erskine Fellowship (2004). Her work bridges formal syntax with computational linguistics and typological documentation, particularly in endangered languages. Her research consistently explores the interplay between formal linguistic theory and empirical data from understudied languages, with a focus on number systems, anaphora, and morphosyntactic variation.

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Anahi Alba de la FuenteView profile

Associate Professor

University of MontrealCanada

Dr. Anahi Alba de la Fuente serves as an Associate Professor at Université de Montréal's Department of Literatures and Languages of the World. Her research focuses on language acquisition patterns, particularly in Spanish as a first and second language, examining bilingualism through psycholinguistic and sociolinguistic frameworks. She investigates morphosyntactic development across learner profiles including heritage speakers and L2/L3 learners. Her work explores critical intersections between theoretical linguistics and applied pedagogy, addressing how linguistic risk perception influences language teaching methodologies. Research employs experimental and corpus-based approaches to analyze tense/aspect systems, gender assignment, and relative clause structures across Romance languages. Awarded the 2020 Teaching Excellence Prize, Dr. Alba de la Fuente maintains active collaborations through ResearchGate and Google Scholar. Current projects examine heritage language maintenance in Montreal's multilingual context and pedagogical interventions for advanced Spanish learners.

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Mary MoroneyView profile

Professor

University of RochesterUnited States

Professor Mary Moroney joined the Department of Linguistics in January 2022. She earned her PhD from Cornell University in 2021, specializing in nominal structure and interpretation through fieldwork on Shan, an understudied Kra-Dai language. Her research explores semantics, syntax, definiteness, quantification, and comparative structures through linguistic fieldwork in Southeast Asia. Recent publications focus on comparative structures in Shan language, classifier systems, and typological studies of definiteness. Her work consistently demonstrates innovative approaches to documenting understudied languages and contributes significantly to theoretical linguistics.

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Rajesh BhattView profile

Professor

University of Massachusetts AmherstUnited States

Rajesh Bhatt is a Professor and Graduate Program Director in the Department of Linguistics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He holds a PhD from the University of Pennsylvania (1999). His research focuses on the syntax-semantics interface, comparative syntax of Modern Indo-Aryan languages, and Tree Adjoining Grammars. He previously taught at the University of Texas at Austin and has contributed to the NSF-funded Hindi/Urdu Treebanks project. Education: PhD in Linguistics, University of Pennsylvania, 1999 Research Interests: Interaction of aspect and modality Comparative syntax, including long-distance agreement and correlative constructions Computational linguistics, particularly treebank development and multi-layered annotation Teaching & Contributions: Developed courses on syntax, formal methods, and computational linguistics Collaborated on the Hindi/Urdu Treebanks project Organized workshops on comparative syntax and computational linguistics

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Claus Peter ZollerView profile

Professor

University of OsloNorway

Claus Peter Zoller is a Professor at the University of Oslo's Department of Culture, Religion, Asian and Middle Eastern Studies. His research focuses on Hindi literature, Himalayan languages, and South Asian performance traditions. He holds a PhD and Habilitation, with extensive experience in academic roles at Heidelberg and Frankfurt Universities. Education: PhD thesis on Indo-Tibetan border language Habilitation on Himalayan oral epic linguistics Research interests emphasize endangered Himalayan languages like Indus Kohistani and Bangani, alongside Romani linguistics. His work combines fieldwork in India/Pakistan with theoretical linguistics. Key projects include the Hindi Database Project and documentation of folk tales from Indus Kohistan. Publications span linguistic analyses, cultural studies, and language preservation. His recent work explores Indo-Aryan linguistic history and ritual practices in Himalayan communities. Collaborations include institutions like Heidelberg's South Asia Institute and Jawaharlal Nehru University. Grants and projects funded by DAAD and DFG have supported fieldwork in South Asia. He maintains active research networks across Europe and South Asia, focusing on language documentation and cultural anthropology. Labs/Teams: Collaborates with computational linguistics teams at Jawaharlal Nehru University and Delhi University, alongside the National School of Drama in New Delhi.

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Guowen ShangView profile

Professor

University of BergenNorway

Guowen Shang is a Professor of Chinese Language and Linguistics at the Department of Foreign Languages, University of Bergen (UiB). Previously, he held positions at the National University of Singapore (PhD, 2011), National Institute of Education (Research Fellow, 2011-2014), and Zhejiang University (Associate Professor, 2015-2017). His research focuses on sociolinguistics, language policy, linguistic landscape studies, and Chinese language education. He has published extensively in journals like Language and Linguistics , Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development , and International Journal of Multilingualism . Shang's education includes a PhD in Linguistics from NUS (2011). His work explores language policy in China, Singapore, and Norway, with emphasis on multilingual urban spaces, toponym management, and language commodification. He is affiliated with the research group 'Multilingualism on My Mind' and actively reviews for over 20 international journals including Linguistics and Language Teaching . Teaching responsibilities include Chinese language courses (levels 1-5), bachelor thesis supervision, and master's courses in applied linguistics and intercultural competence. His recent research highlights include studies on linguistic landscape chronotopes, heritage commodification in urban spaces, and ethnic identity among Chinese-Norwegian adoptees. Publications span theoretical and applied linguistics, with a focus on sociopolitical dimensions of language use. He has authored monographs like Linguistic Landscape Studies: Theories and Practice (2023) and co-edited volumes analyzing multilingualism in international cities. Research interests also extend to language anxiety among international students and the role of linguistic landscapes in pedagogy.

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Reeli Torn-LeesikView profile

Lecturer

University of TartuEstonia

Reeli Torn-Leesik is a Lecturer in English Language and Linguistics at the University of Tartu, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, Institute of Foreign Languages and Cultures. She has maintained a continuous academic career at the University of Tartu since 2002, progressing from assistant lecturer to her current position as lecturer. Dr. Torn-Leesik earned her Doctorate in 2016 from the University of Tartu with a dissertation titled "An Investigation of Voice Constructions in Estonian." She also holds an MPhil in English and Applied Linguistics from the University of Cambridge (2002, with distinction) and an MA in English Language and Literature from the University of Tartu (2002, cum laude). Her research focuses on linguistics, particularly morphosyntax and language acquisition. She has published extensively on Estonian grammar, voice constructions, language learning, and bilingualism. Her recent work includes studies on part-of-speech tagging of Estonian learner English, linking adverbials in Estonian school-leavers' English essays, and cross-linguistic investigations of passive voice acquisition. Her scholarly contributions span multiple disciplines within linguistics, with particular emphasis on the intersection of theoretical syntax, language acquisition, and applied linguistics. Her scientific achievements include the OSI Chevening Cambridge Scholarship for the Baltic States and Ukraine, which supported her MPhil studies at Cambridge, and a scholarship for participation in the course "The Teaching of Cambridge Exam Preparation Courses; Aspects of British Culture." Throughout her career, Dr. Torn-Leesik has been actively involved in academic administration, including membership in the Council of the Department of Germanic and Romance Languages and Literature since 2004, and participation in English language and literature admissions committees. She has organized conferences and workshops, including an international workshop "Meanings beyond words" held at the European Centre of Modern Languages in Graz, Austria. Dr. Torn-Leesik is a longstanding member of the Estonian Centre for British Studies (since 1997).

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Frans PlankView profile

Professor

Graz University of TechnologyAustria

Prof. Frans Plank is a distinguished linguist holding dual appointments as Professor of Linguistics and English Language at the University of Konstanz (Germany) and Senior Research Fellow at Somerville College, University of Oxford (UK). His career spans over four decades, with professorships at institutions such as the University of Aarhus (Denmark) and Universität Hannover (Germany). He has served as Dean of the Faculty of Arts at Konstanz and Chair of its Linguistics Department and Sonderforschungsbereich 471. Plank earned academic degrees from Universität Regensburg, University of York, and University of Edinburgh, culminating in a Dr. phil. from Universität Hannover (1980) and a Habilitation in Linguistics (1981). His research focuses on linguistic typology, historical linguistics, Germanic languages, morphology, syntax, and the history of linguistic thought. His work bridges theoretical and empirical linguistics, with contributions to the study of valence orientation, categorial change, and phonological phrasing. He founded Linguistic Typology journal (1997) and the Association for Linguistic Typology (1994). Over 150 papers and 7 edited volumes reflect his prolific output, including seminal works on Maltese noun phrases and double case systems. Recognition includes his 2014 election as Senior Research Fellow at Oxford and editorial leadership roles at major journals like Transactions of the Philological Society . His research also extends to interdisciplinary studies, such as the parallels between linguistics and geology in 19th-century science.

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Josep QuerView profile

Research Professor

Graz University of TechnologyAustria

Josep Quer is an ICREA Research Professor at the Department of Translation and Language Sciences, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, leading the LSCLab. He holds a PhD from Utrecht University and has held roles such as Full Professor at the University of Amsterdam and Researcher at the University of Barcelona. His work focuses on theoretical linguistics, particularly sign languages, Romance languages, and Greek. Education: PhD in Linguistics, Utrecht University (1998) Master in Grammatical Theory, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (1993) Classics (Greek) Degree, University of Barcelona (1988) Research Interests: Sign language syntax/semantics Romance languages Greek linguistics Modality effects in language Grammar writing standards for sign languages Publications: Over 50 peer-reviewed articles in journals like Language , Lingua , and Sign Language & Linguistics . Recent work emphasizes methodological advancements in sign language research and cross-modal comparisons. Awards: Catalan Academy membership (2021), NIAS Fellowships (2021-2024), and APANSCE Prize (2006). Grants & Leadership: Coordinated EU H2020 project SIGN-HUB (2016–2020). Led development of Gramàtica bàsica de la llengua de signes catalana (2005) with GRIN research group. Served as journal co-editor and network chair for COST Action IS1006. Labs/Teams: Directs LSCLab and manages LSC corpus/lexicon projects under Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

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