Ljiljana Progovac

Ljiljana Progovac is a Distinguished Professor of Linguistics at Wayne State University's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, where she also serves as Graduate Director of the Linguistics Program. She has held faculty positions at Wayne State since 1991, following appointments at the University of Southern California, Indiana University, and the University of Novi Sad.

Her research focuses on the evolution of language and syntax, with particular expertise in Slavic syntax and human cognitive evolution. Progovac's groundbreaking work proposes that early language evolved gradually through identifiable 'living fossils' in modern languages, particularly in playful but derogatory compounds used for naming and verbal aggression. Her research integrates linguistic theory with neuroscience, anthropology, and evolutionary biology.

Analysis of her recent publications reveals a clear trajectory toward interdisciplinary work connecting language evolution with human self-domestication theory. Her 2024 'Survival of the Wittiest' framework challenges Brian Hare's 'Survival of the Friendliest' by arguing that verbal aggression and humor played crucial roles in language evolution. Her experimental work using fMRI has identified specific neural correlates of proto-syntax processing in the fusiform gyrus, Broca's area, and basal ganglia.

Scientific Awards:

• Marilyn Williamson Endowed Distinguished Faculty Fellowship (2020, 2014)
• Charles Gershenson Distinguished Faculty Fellowship (2020)
• Board of Governors Faculty Recognition Award (2020, 2016)
• Keal Faculty Fellowship (2016)
• Sabbatical Leave as Visiting Scholar at MIT (2018/19)

Progovac has directed significant research projects including 'Language Evolution, Self-Domestication, and Verbal Aggression' (2020) and the fMRI study 'In Search of Protosyntax in the Brain' (2014). She has taught numerous courses including Syntax, Semantics, and Advanced Studies in Language Variation and Evolution. Her work has been featured in major media outlets including The New York Times and New Scientist, with recent coverage of her theories on Biden's speech patterns and ancient insults spurring language evolution.

Her laboratory work focuses on functional MRI studies of Serbian syntax processing, examining how different grammatical structures activate distinct neural pathways that may reflect evolutionary stages of language development. She collaborates extensively with researchers across disciplines, particularly with Antonio Benítez-Burraco on the language evolution/self-domestication connection.