معرفی
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
