Umberto Ansaldo

Umberto Ansaldo joined the School of Humanities, University of Hong Kong (HKU), in August 2009 as an Associate Professor in Linguistics. Previous to that, he taught and conducted research at the University of Amsterdam, the National University of Singapore and Stockholm University. His interests include the study of East-West linguistic encounters (contact languages of Asia), multilingual ecologies, language evolution and linguistic diversity. He specializes in Sinitic, Malay and isolating languages in general. For the past 5 years, Umberto has directed the project on the documentation of Sri Lanka Malay, the first documentation project to describe a 'creole-like' language, which resulted in a rich collection of linguistic and cultural material on creolization of language and culture, stored in the DoBeS archives (MPI Nijmegen - Volkswagen Stiftung). Since 2006, Umberto has shared the task of Series Editor of the Creole Language Library (John Benjamins) with Miriam Meyerhoff (University of Edinburgh), a series that specializes in the study of contact linguistics, pidgins and Creoles. As of last year, he started a new research project on the typology of Sinitic and Kwa languages under the auspices of the Dutch Scientific Foundation (NWO) in collaboration with Enoch Aboh (University of Amsterdam) and Lisa Cheng and Rint Sybesma (Leiden University); he is affiliated as a guest researcher at both Amsterdam (ACLC) and Leiden (LUCL). In Hong Kong, Umberto hopes to contribute to the growth of East Asian linguistics, contact linguistics and documentation of linguistic diversity in the region. Besides linguistics, he likes to practice martial arts, self-defense systems and yoga. He also loves to travel, eat and drink well, and read contemporary fiction.

COURSES (2009-2010)

LING2040 Languages in Contact

LING2009 Languages of the World

RECENT PUBLICATIONS (more links coming soon)

In preparation

Monographs/ edited volumes

Ansaldo, U. (ed.) 2010 to appear. Pidgins and Creoles in Asian contexts. Journal of Creole and Pidgin Languages 25:1 (Special Issue)

Lim, L. & U. Ansaldo. in prep. (contracted for publication) Languages in contact. Key Topics in Sociolinguistics. Cambridge University Press.

Articles/ chapters

Ansaldo, U. The Lankan adstrates of Sri Lanka Malay. In C. Lefevbre (ed.) Substrate influences in creole languages.

Ansaldo, U. & L. Lim. Out of reach: The Sri Lanka Malay periphery beyond rights and citizenship. In L. Lim, C. Stroud & L. Wee (eds) The multilingual citizen: Towards a politics of language for agency and change.

Ansaldo, U., S. Matthews & G. Smith. The Cantonese substrate in China Coast Pidgin. In C. Lefevbre (ed.) Substrate influences in creole languages. (Download)

To appear

Monographs

Ansaldo, U. 2009. Contact languages. Ecology and evolution in Asia. Cambridge University Press. (Download Chapter 1)

Articles/ chapters

Ansaldo, U. 2010. Surpass in Sinitic and beyond. Linguistics.

Ansaldo, U. 2009. Asian Englishes. In. R. Hickey (ed.) Handbook of language contact. Blackwell.

Ansaldo, U. 2009. Contact language formation in evolutionary terms. In E.O. Aboh & N. Smith (eds) Complex processes in new languages. Creole Language Library. Amsterdam/ Philadelphia: John Benjamins. (Download)

Ansaldo, U. & L. Lim. 2009. Baba Malay. In S. Michaelis, P. Maurer, M. Huber & M. Haspelmath (eds). The Atlas of Pidgin and Creole Language Structures (APiCS). Berlin/ NY: Mouton de Gruyter.

Ansaldo, U. & S. Nordhoff. 2009. Complexity and the age of languages. In E.O. Aboh & N. Smith (eds) Complex processes in new languages. Creole Language Library. Amsterdam/ Philadelphia: John Benjamins. (Download)

Lim, L. & U. Ansaldo. 2009. Singlish. In S. Michaelis, P. Maurer, M. Huber & M. Haspelmath (eds) The Atlas of Pidgin and Creole Language Structures (APiCS). Berlin/ NY: Mouton de Gruyter.

Published

2008

Ansaldo, U. 2008. Sri Lanka Malay revisited: Genesis and classification. In A. Dwyer, D. Harrison & D. Rood (eds) A world of many voices: Lessons from documented endangered languages. Typological Studies in Language. Amsterdam/ Philadelphia: John Benjamins. 13-42. (Download)

Ansaldo, U., J. Don & R. Pfau (eds). 2008. Parts of Speech: Descriptive tools, theoretical constructs. Special issue of Studies in Language 32:3.

Ansaldo, U., J. Don & R. Pfau. 2008. Parts of Speech. Particulars, universals and theoretical constructs. Parts of Speech: Descriptive tools, theoretical constructs. Special issue of Studies in Language 32:3: 505-508.

2007

Aboh, E.O. & U. Ansaldo. 2007. The role of typology in language creation: A descriptive take. In U. Ansaldo, S. Matthews & L. Lim (eds) Deconstructing creole. Typological Studies in Language 73. Amsterdam/ Philadelphia: John Benjamins. 39-66. (Download)

Ansaldo, U. 2007. Review of McWhorter, John, 2005, Defining creole, Oxford University Press. Journal of Pidgin and Creole Languages 22:1. 170-176. (Download)

Ansaldo, U., L. Lim & S. Mufwene. 2007. The sociolinguistic history of the Peranakans: What it tells us about 'creolization'. In U. Ansaldo, S. Matthews & L. Lim (eds) Deconstructing creole. Typological Studies in Language 73. Amsterdam/ Philadelphia: John Benjamins. 203-226. (Download)

Ansaldo, U. & S. Matthews. 2007. Deconstructing creole: The rationale. In U. Ansaldo, S. Matthews & L. Lim (eds) Deconstructing creole. Typological Studies in Language 73. Amsterdam/ Philadelphia: John Benjamins. 1-18.

Ansaldo, U., S. Matthews & L. Lim (eds). 2007. Deconstructing creole. Typological Studies in Language 73. Amsterdam/ Philadelphia: John Benjamins.

Reviews of Deconstructing creole include:

McWhorter, J. 2008. Journal of Pidgin and Creole Languages 23:2. 289-306. (Download)

Mühleisen, S. 2008. Sargasso, Alternative Identities: Belonging and Resistance. 2007-08, I. (Download)

Sebba, M. 2009. Language 85:2. 454-457. (Download)

Lim, L. & U. Ansaldo. 2007. Identity alignment in the multilingual space: The Malays of Sri Lanka. In E.A. Anchimbe (ed.) Linguistic identity in multilingual postcolonial spaces. Cambridge Scholars Press. 218-243. (Download)

MORE PUBLICATIONS

FULL CV

Edited volumes in which Umberto is involved:

(click images for book flyers in PDF)

Series Editor of the Creole Language Library (John Benjamins)

Editor

Contributor