Sasha Lubotsky is an Emeritus Professor of Comparative Indo-European Linguistics at the Leiden University Centre for Linguistics.

More information about Sasha Lubotsky

Research

It is the combination of the exact sciences and the humanities that makes Comparative Indo-European Linguistics so special. On the one hand, historical linguistics is an almost exact science where we have to reckon with sound laws and grammatical structures. On the other hand, an Indo-Europeanist is engaged in the study of old texts. He investigates the greatest monuments of the human spirit, such as the poems of Homer, the Beowulf, the Old Icelandic sagas and the Old Irish epos, he tries to analyse the difficult Hittite and Tocharian texts and to understand the Phrygian and Lycian inscriptions. Currently, I am involved in two large projects: the Indo-European Etymological Dictionary and the edition of the Atharvaveda-Paippalāda, an old Vedic text.

Curriculum vitae

Education

• 1973 – 1976: Lomonosov University, Moscow (Linguistics)
• 1976 – 1980: Leiden University
• 1978: kandidaats (BA) Indo-Iranian
• 1980: doctoraal (MA) Comparative Indo-European Linguistics
• 1987: PhD Leiden (“Nominal accentuation in Sanskrit and Indo-European”, under supervision of Professor R.S.P. Beekes)

Employment

• 1980 – 1999: Assistant Professor ( universitair docent), Leiden University
• 1999 – : full professor of Comparative Indo-European Linguistics, Leiden University
• 2006 – : Director of the Leiden Summer School in Languages and Linguistics, Leiden University
• 1992 – : Leader of the project "Indo-European Etymological Dictionary"

Grants and awards

• 1997: Research grant (3 postdocs) for the “Indo-European Etymological Dictionary” project (NWO)
• 1992, 1998, 2008, 2009: Visiting grants for J. Hilmarsson, S. Starostin, R. Matasović, V. Sadovski (NWO)
• 2005, 2008, 2011: Research grants for the “Indo-European Etymological Dictionary” project (Brill)
• 2003 – : member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW)
• 2013: member of the Academia Europaea

Editorial service

• 1991 – : editor-in-chief of the series “Leiden Studies in Indo-European” (Rodopi; 18 volumes)
• 2005 – : editor-in-chief of the “Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary series” (Brill; 10 volumes)
• 2010 – : editor “ Indo-European Etymological Dictionaries Online” (Brill).
• 2002 – : member of the advisory board “Nartamongæ. The Journal of Alano-Ossetic Studies”
• 2008 – : member of the editorial board “Journal of Language Relationship”
• 2008 – : member of the editorial board “Historische Sprachforschung”
• 2008 – : member of the editorial board of the series “Brill's Studies in Indo-European Languages & Linguistics ”

Lectures

• 1993, 2005: guest lectures Universität Wien (Austria)
• 1994: visiting professor Cornell University and Yale University (USA)
• 1996, 1999: guest lectures Harvard University (USA)
• 2002: guest lecture Collège de France (Paris, France)
• 2002: directeur d’études invité “École Pratique des Hautes Études” (Paris, France)
• 2007: guest lecture Universität Köln
• 2007: linguistic course “Sanskrit Historical Phonology”, Università di Palermo, Italy
• 2008: guest lectures Institut für Iranistik, Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna
• Invited speaker at the conferences in Rome (1995), Philadelphia (1996), Helsinki (1999), Cambridge (1999), Kyoto (1999), Cambridge (1999), Moscow (2000), Halle/Saale (2000), Copenhagen (2000), Jerusalem (2001), Leipzig (2001), Santa Fe (2003), Münster (2004), Halle (2004), Santa Fe (2004), Istanbul (2005), Vienna (2005), Beyşehir (2006), Ashgabad (2006), Münster (2006), Leipzig (2006), Moscow (2008), Münster (2008), Ravenna (2009), Paris (2010), Münster (2010), Los Angeles (2010), Opava (2010)
• PhD dissertations supervised: J.T.L. Cheung (2000), L. Kulikov (2001), M.A.C. de Vaan (2002), D. Baum (2005), S. Starostin (honorary degree, 2005), G. Kroonen (2009), W. Knobl (2009), M. Peyrot (2010), Kalsang Norbu Gurung (2011)

Administrative functions

• 1999 – : Chair, Department of Comparative Indo-European Linguistics
• 2001 – 2007: Organization of the annual Linguistic Olympics (+ “The 3rd International Linguistic Olympics” in 2005)
• 2004 – : Member of the board “Indogermanische Gesellschaft”
• 2004 – 2008: Director of F.B.J. Kuiperinstituut
• 2005 – 2008: Member of the board and the senate of Leiden University Center for Linguistics
• 2007 – 2009: Member of the “Begeleidingscommissie” Etymologisch Woordenboek van het Nederlands (INL)
• 2008: member of the “Projektkommission” Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Althochdeutschen (Universität Jena), on behalf of the Union der deutschen Akademien
• 2008 – : Chairman of the section “Taal- en Literatuurwetenschappen”, Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW)
• 2008 – : Member of the board “Stichting J. Gonda-Fonds” (KNAW)
• 2011 –: Member of the Advisory board of Leiden University Center for Linguistics

Activities