Semitic languages

Research at Uppsala University in Semitic Languages is mainly divided between the fields of Arabic, Aramaic, Hebrew and Assyriology.

Within the field of Arabic Studies, the focus is on studies of syntax, modern Arabic dialects, textual criticism (critical comparisons of manuscripts), literature and media. Within the field of Hebrew Studies, the focus is on Biblical Hebrew syntax and North-West Semitic. Research on Aramaic encompasses both ancient and modern varieties, in particular Surayt/Turoyo and North-Eastern Neo-Aramaic, as well as Classical Syriac literature. Research in Assyriology is described in detail here.

Research areas

Aramaic

  • North-Eastern Neo-Aramaic: documentation, morphosyntax, language contact (Coghill)
  • Diachronic change in Aramaic (Coghill)
  • Development of the begadkefat (fricativization) in Surayt/Turoyo (Sina Tezel, Aziz Tezel)
  • Neologisms in Surayt/Turoyo (Sina Tezel)
  • Flora and fauna in Surayt/Turoyo lexicon (Aziz Tezel)
  • Syriac grammar (Eskhult, Aydin)
  • Syriac lexicon (Aydin)
  • Syriac and Ethiopic literature with emphasis on apocryphal, historiographic and monastic genres (Witakowski)
  • Syriac philosophy and science, Syriac zoology (Aydin)

Arabic

  • Arabic dialectology and documentation, especially dialects of the Levant, Iraq and Anatolia (Agbaht, Saouk, Coghill)
  • Christian Arabic (Eskhult)
  • Arabic blogging in Egypt, Lebanon and Kuwait (Ramsay)
  • Ecology and environmental concerns in Arabic literature (Ramsay)
  • Arabic literature, primarily modern (Ramsay)
  • Classical Arabic text linguistics (Isaksson)
  • The diachronic perspective of Biblical Hebrew (Eskhult)

Hebrew and North-West Semitic

  • Classical Hebrew text linguistics and philology (Eskhult, Isaksson, Petersson)
  • Biblical Hebrew in diachronic and dialectal perspectives (Eskhult, Isaksson, Petersson)
  • Comparative North-West Semitic Linguistics (Petersson)
  • Hebrew literature, primarily modern (Månsson)

General Semitic

  • Hypotactic clause linkage in Semitic languages (Isaksson)
  • Comparative Semitic Linguistics (Sjörs)

Group members

 

Sami Aydin, researcher
Eleanor Coghill, professor
Mats Eskhult, professor emeritus
Bo Isaksson, professor emeritus
Jonas Karlsson, junior lecturer
Paul Katsivelis, junior lecturer
Johan Ljungberg, PhD student
Anette Månsson, senior lecturer
Gail Ramsay, professor emerita
Aziz Tezel, researcher
Sina Tezel, senior lecturer
Witold Witakowski, docent (retired)

Contact

  • info@lingfil.uu.se

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