Fields of interest

Comparative Indo-European linguistics
Greek Linguistics and Philology (especially Homer)
Greek Lexicography

Research

I am currently conducting the NWO-funded VENI project ‘Unraveling Homer’s Language’,  in which I study the mechanisms of language change in the early Greek epic tradition. Other areas of interest are Greek historical grammar, Greek and Indo-European etymology, formulaic language and poetic phraseology, and Indo-European institutions. 

Teaching Activities

I have taught numerous courses in Greek and Indo-European Linguistics, both in the Linguistics and in the Classics Department – among others:

Historical Grammar of Greek (I, II) 
Greek Linguistics 
Introduction to Morphology
Introduction to the Ancient Greek Dialects (MA seminar) 
Introduction to Indo-European Linguistics
Language and Prehistory / Culture of the Indo-Europeans

I currently teach Historical Grammar of Greek II. During the Leiden Summer School in Languages and Linguistics 2016, I offer a course “The Language of Homer”. In the Fall of 2016, I will teach a new MA-course “The Mycenaean World” (together with Willemijn Waal), which consists of two separate modules (Language, Culture).

Curriculum vitae

2016-pres.: Post-Doctoral Researcher (VENI-project 'Unraveling Homer’s Language', Leiden University).
2015-pres.: Project Manager, Ancient Greek-Dutch Dictionary Project (Leiden University).
2012-2015: Lecturer and Post-Doctoral researcher (Leiden University, Radboud University, Ghent University).
2007-2013: PhD (with distinction) in Comparative Indo-European Linguistics (Leiden University), funded by NWO Toptalent.
2004-2007: MA (with distinction) in Comparative Indo-European Linguistics (Leiden University).
1997-2004: MA in Mathematics; Propaedeutic in Slavic Languages and Cultures; Propaedeutic in Philosophy (Leiden University).
1996-1997: Propaedeutic in Mathematics (Leiden University).

Key publications

• L. van Beek, The development of the Proto-Indo-European syllabic liquids in Greek. PhD dissertation. Leiden, 2013.
• R.S.P. Beekes, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series). Leiden: Brill, 2010.
• L. van Beek, Homeric κρείων ‘lord’ and the Indo-European word for ‘head’. Indogermanische Forschungen 119 (2014), 96-121.
• L. van Beek, Struck with blood: The meaning and etymology of παλάσσω and its middle perfect πεπάλακτο. Mnemosyne 66 (2013), 541-565.
• L. van Beek, The “Saussure Effect” in Greek: a reinterpretation of the evidence. Journal of Indo-European Studies 39 (2011), 129-175.
• L. van Beek, Vowel assimilation in Greek: the evidence reconsidered. In: T. Krisch and Th. Lindner (eds.), Indogermanistik und Linguistik in Dialog. Akten der XIII. Fachtagung der Indogermanischen Gesellschaft vom 21. bis 27. September 2008 in Salzburg, pp. 49-58. Wiesbaden: Reichert, 2011. 

Publications