Delia Bentley

Delia Bentley is a Professor of Romance Linguistics at the University of Manchester's Department of Linguistics and English Language, part of the School of Arts, Languages and Cultures. She specializes in the syntax-discourse interface, focusing on Romance languages like Sicilian and Sardinian. Her research explores how lexical and contextual meaning influences grammatical structures, with notable work on existential, locative, and causative constructions. She has led major AHRC-funded projects and contributed to linguistic documentation initiatives, such as the Existential Constructions project.

• Editor of Transactions of the Philological Society and Studies in Role and Reference Grammar.
• Former Head of multiple departments including Linguistics and English Language, and leader of MA Linguistics programs.
• Recipient of AHRC grants and School of Arts research awards (2024, 2015, 2014).

Her research interests include syntactic microvariation, Italian and Romance dialectology, and the discourse-syntax interface. Key contributions include monographs on existential constructions and co-edited volumes like The Cambridge Handbook of Role and Reference Grammar. She actively promotes linguistic diversity through the Linguistic Diversity Collective.

In teaching, she emphasizes rigorous analysis and transferable skills, offering courses on syntax, Romance linguistics, and research methods. Currently supervises doctoral projects on topics like Greek-Romance dialectal TAM systems and Catalan-Spanish syntax-discourse interfaces.

• Leadership roles: Programme Director (MA Linguistics), Head of multiple divisions, and peer reviewer for Italian research councils.
• Collaborations include the Atlante Linguistico della Sicilia and Atlante Sintattico dell’Italia Settentrionale.

Her work aligns with UN SDG 4 (Quality Education) by preserving linguistic heritage and promoting education in diverse linguistic contexts.