Nicholas Zair

Dr Nicholas Zair is a Senior Lecturer in Classics (Classical Linguistics and Comparative Philology) at the Faculty of Classics, University of Cambridge, and Director of Studies in Classics and Linguistics at Peterhouse. His work bridges the linguistic history of Latin, Celtic, and Proto-Indo-European, with a focus on phonology, morphology, and language contact.

• Education: PhD in Comparative Philology and General Linguistics (University of Oxford), BA in Classics.

Research Interests encompass:

• Phonological and morphological evolution of Latin and Ancient Italian languages.
• Celtic language development and Proto-Indo-European reconstruction.
• Orthographic traditions and sub-elite education in the Roman Empire.
• Sound change and comparative philology.

Publications highlight his expertise in:

• Orthographic Traditions and the Sub-elite in the Roman Empire (2024, Open Access).
• Oscan in the Greek Alphabet (2016, AHRC-funded).
• Reflexes of Proto-Indo-European Laryngeals in Celtic (2012).

Scientific Contributions include:

• Analysis of curse tablets and multilingual inscriptions.
• Studies on vowel weakening and morphophonological shifts.
• Exploration of Romanisation's impact on writing systems.

Teaching spans Latin/Greek language and comparative philology at Cambridge. He welcomes graduate students in these fields. Contact: naz21@cam.ac.uk.