Robert Borges (linguist)
I am a linguist with a background in sociolinguistics, language description, and linguistic typology. My main research interests center around the relationship between social identity, multilingualism, and language change.
The prominent theme covered in my research is language change, especially the relationship between change on the one hand, and social identity and multilingual language practice on the other. My research has progressed from a strictly diachronic perspective to include aspects of synchronic variationist linguistics, and more recently second language acquisition and psycholinguistic perspectives on multilingualism. Nevertheless, the underlying questions in my research remain diachronically oriented. Throughout my studies and career as a linguist, I have been engaged with inter- and multidisciplinary approaches to the study of language, relying on data-driven and usage-based accounts of language as a basis for both research and teaching.
Recent Research
I am interested in the continued pursuit of two interrelated lines of research, which align with my broad interest in language evolution in multilingual contexts and empirical methodologies: (1) developing efficient methods for generating and analyzing research data, and (2) the study of new speakers as agents of change in endangered|minority language contexts. Some further detail can be found on the Research tab. (paragraph break here) In my current position at the Institute of Slavic Studies, Polish Academy of Sciences, I am intensely working with both these issues in the project New speakers of minority languages: Proficiency, variation, and change. More info can be found on the NESPOMILA project website.
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Recent News
Aricle Published: "Sourcing Data from Wikipedia for the Study of Language Contact: the csbwiki"
2022-12-30 21:27
The latest issue of Academic Journal of Modern Philology (18) was published a few hours ago; in it my article "Sourcing Data from Wikipedia for the Study of Language Contact: the csbwiki". Get the article directly (PDF download) here or the whole issue of Open Access articles here …
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Abstract Accepted for Presentation at "MuLAcq2023"
2022-10-30 13:52
Robert's abstract Entrenchment and Conventionalization in Language Contact Scenarios has been accepted for presentation at the International Conference on Multilingualism and Language Acquisition (MuLAcq2023) to be held at University of Helsinki, March 9–10, 2023. The paper will present results from Robert's ongoing research project New Speakers of Minority …
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Popular Science Article Published: "Meertaligheid op het strand..."
2022-07-29 10:38
Robert's popular science article Meertaligheid op het strand: Wat borden en posters zeggen over taalvitaliteit op Aruba ["Multilingualism on the beach: what signs and posters say about language vitality in Aruba"] has been published on the Stemmen van Afrika website. The article is a focused, Dutch-language version of a blog …
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