Annika Tjuka

Dr. Annika Tjuka is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Department of Linguistic and Cultural Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig. She received her Ph.D. in Linguistics with highest honors (summa cum laude) from Friedrich Schiller University Jena in March 2024. Her research integrates findings from linguistics and psychology using computational approaches to explore linguistic diversity, particularly variations in word meanings across languages.

Dr. Tjuka's educational background includes:

• Ph.D. in Linguistics (2024) - Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena and International Max Planck Research School for the Science of Human History (IMPRS-SHH)
• Master of Arts in Linguistics (2019) - Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
• Bachelor of Arts in German Linguistics and Scandinavian Studies (2016) - Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

Her primary research focuses on linguistic diversity and the semantic patterns of word meanings across languages. Dr. Tjuka has developed a cross-linguistic database containing rich information on word properties across 39 languages (https://norare.clld.org). She has conducted significant research on the semantic domain of the human body, investigating the intricate interplay between language, culture, and cognition. Her work on body-object colexifications has been published in Linguistic Typology, and her research on body part vocabularies has been published in Scientific Reports.

Dr. Tjuka's research shows a strong emphasis on cross-linguistic patterns, particularly in semantic domains related to body parts and object naming. Her work combines computational approaches with cognitive and psychological insights to uncover universal and culture-specific factors that shape linguistic structures. She has made significant contributions to lexical database development, particularly through her work on Concepticon and NoRaRe.

Her notable scientific achievement is the receipt of the Otto Hahn Medal, a prestigious award from the Max Planck Society recognizing outstanding scientific achievements during doctoral studies.

Dr. Tjuka is actively involved in science communication, having presented her research at events like Soapbox Science Berlin. She values conducting culturally informed and theoretically motivated research that embraces diversity, publishing open-access work to increase accessibility, and building an ecosystem for interdisciplinary researchers while mentoring the next generation of cognitive scientists.