I am a linguist specializing in Slavic languages. My main research interests revolve around the question of how and why the Slavic languages came to be the way they are. In my PhD thesis I developed a model of the relative chronology of Proto-Slavic and Russian sound changes. In other works, I focus on the rise of new morphemes as a result of grammaticalization processes. Recently, I have become interested in the grammar of Slavic microlanguages, i.e., Slavic varieties apart from the major languages which are to some degree codified. These languages provide compelling cases for the study of the effects of language contact. Current work focuses on (morpho-)syntactic phenomena in the Slovenian dialect of Resia and in Sorbian. Another interest concerns computational modelling of language history and the creation of electronic resources. For instance, in cooperation with student assistants, I developed a digital version of the model elaborated in my PhD thesis. I also have a background in Slavic philology. Among other projects, I have participated in editing Old Church Slavonic texts found in Saint Catherine’s monastery on the Sinai Peninsula in 1975.
