Katja Hannß

Prof. Dr. Katja Hannß serves as a Professor in the Department of Linguistics at the University of Cologne, Germany. Her work centers on endangered Andean languages including Quechua, Aymara, Uru-Chipaya, Kallawaya, and Pukina, with emphasis on linguistic documentation and historical analysis.

Hannß specializes in language documentation of vanishing Andean languages, particularly Uchumataqu (Uru) and Kallawaya. Her research integrates historical linguistics with pragmatic analysis of discourse structures, examining language contact phenomena and ethnobiological knowledge systems. She investigates how medicinal plant terminology in Kallawaya reflects cultural transmission and linguistic hybridity, bridging linguistic theory with anthropological inquiry into indigenous knowledge preservation.

Her recent publications (2014-2019) demonstrate consistent focus on Kallawaya language formation, etymology, and ethnobiological lexicon, while advancing understanding of Uchumataqu grammar and Chipaya case systems. This body of work reveals patterns of language mixing in Andean secret languages and historical connections between extinct and surviving linguistic lineages.

No scientific awards were documented in the source material.

Hannß leads significant research projects including:

• The Chipaya subject clitics: a pragmatic approach (2017-2019)
• Word Formation in Kallawaya: Nominal Composition and Incorporation (2016-2017)
• Typological Profile of the Bolivian Mixed Language Kallawaya (2012-2015)

These projects indicate sustained grant funding for Andean language documentation. No student advising activities were specified in the available information.