Zev Handel

Zev Handel is a Professor and Department Chair in the Department of Asian Languages and Literature at the University of Washington, affiliated with the College of Arts & Sciences. He also serves as the Chinese Program Coordinator and holds an Adjunct Professor position in the Department of Linguistics. His research focuses on historical phonology, Chinese dialectology, Tibeto-Burman languages, and sinographic writing systems.

Education: PhD in Chinese Language (UC Berkeley, 1998), MA in East Asian Languages (UC Berkeley, 1992), AB in Mathematics (Harvard, 1988).

Key research projects include studies on the development of sinographic writing systems in Asia, the history of Northern Min dialects in Fujian Province, and the comparative analysis of Sino-Tibetan linguistic features. His work bridges historical linguistics, textual analysis, and cognitive approaches to writing systems.

Prominent publications include Sinography: The borrowing and adaptation of the Chinese script (Brill, 2019) and contributions to the Encyclopedia of Chinese Language and Linguistics. He has held visiting roles at institutions like the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and frequently presents at international conferences on Sino-Tibetan and East Asian linguistic studies.

Teaching and advising: While no student names are listed, his roles include mentoring graduate students in Chinese linguistics and related fields. He is involved in research initiatives such as the Early Buddhist Manuscript Project and the Bilingual and Biliteracy Research Lab.