From Konstantin Tzivanopoulos, uni-graz.at: The generative linguist Svitlana Antonyuk is researching the emotional factors of language change. The project is being funded with 1.2 million euros as part of the FWF Start Award.
When people speak, express themselves verbally and articulate, it is not without emotion. As in every system, there are certain patterns that we consciously or unconsciously follow in the act of speaking. At the University of Graz, a generative linguist, Svitlana Antonyuk, is researching the emotional factors of language change. She is combining sociolinguistic and neurolinguistic methods to investigate the psychological mechanisms that influence language use and change. The project is being funded with 1.2 million euros as part of the FWF Start Award. Antonyuk is a Lise Meitner Senior Postdoctoral Researcher. “We hope to understand the mechanisms by which human emotions play a role in language contact and language change situations,” explains Antonyuk. “Predicting language change has so far been an extremely difficult, if not insurmountable, challenge in linguistics.” [...]
“I would like to congratulate Svitlana Antonyuk on this award. Her research on language change in Ukrainian is of great social and highly topical relevance. This significant funding from the FWF in the amount of 1.2 million euros underlines once again how important it is to support young researchers in their work and to give them the opportunity to advance forward-looking projects. The University of Graz is consistently committed to promoting excellent talent and is thus making a significant contribution to the future of science,” emphasizes Rector Peter Riedler.
[...] The FWF START Award not only supports the realization of this research, but also the establishment of a biennial summer school on Ukrainian linguistics at the University of Graz. This will bring together language experts with different theoretical perspectives and promote new collaborations. “The aim is to understand the complexity of the human mind through the study of language,” emphasizes Antonyuk.
- Learn more about this year's START awards: FWF START Awards: €1.2 Million Each for Up-and-Coming Top Researchers from Graz, Innsbruck, and Vienna — FWF
- Learn more about the programme that follows the START award, which is in it's last year: FWF-ASTRA-Preise bringen mehr Chancen für Postdocs — FWF
Picture credit: FWF/Sabine Hofmann