Penn Linguistics

News and announcements from the University of Pennsylvania Department of Linguistics

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[Penn Linguistics @PennLinguistics]

Postdoc opportunity in syntax at Penn!
https://t.co/qwWNF88xZp

[Penn Linguistics @PennLinguistics]

We are delighted to report that Gillian Sankoff was honored on Saturday, January 11, with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Society of Pidgin and Creole Linguistics. A very well-deserved recognition of her long and influential career!

[Penn Linguistics @PennLinguistics]

John Baugh recalled Bill once expressing an ambition to share with Socrates the trait of always being referred to in the present tense. There was widespread agreement that this is a good way to honor him.

[Penn Linguistics @PennLinguistics]

A memorial was held for Bill Labov on the evening of Thursday, January 9, at the 2025 LSA Meeting in Philadelphia. There were many laughs as well as tears.

[Penn Linguistics @PennLinguistics]

It was clear, as a series of speakers shared fond, touching, and funny memories of their friend, colleague, and mentor, that Bill had changed the course of multiple people's lives and, through them, the field.

[Linguistic Society of America @LingSocAm]

The @americandialect Word of the Year: RAWDOG

To rawdog: taking on life without the usual protection, preparation, or comfort. Whether it’s diving into a challenge unprepared or skipping the safety net, rawdogging is about embracing risk, stone-cold sobriety, and rolling with it. #WordoftheYear #LSA2025

[Linguistic Society of America @LingSocAm]

As the final day of #LSA2025 unfolds, we can’t help but feel inspired, grateful, and energized by the connections, ideas, and memories we've created together. There are still many activities and sessions to engage in today, from student networking, a final poster session, and engaging talks.

Thank you to every attendee, speaker, sponsor, and organizer who made this event extraordinary. #LSA2025 #LastDay #ThankYou #Community

[Linguistic Society of America @LingSocAm]

Another great day at #LSA2025! Today’s sessions spanned a fascinating range of topics, from Discourse Analysis to sessions specifically geared toward high school students. Each speaker brought fresh insights, sparking meaningful conversations. One more day of talks, posters, and more coming up tomorrow! #LSA2025 #Connections #ExplorePhilly #AnnualMeeting #Networking

[Penn Linguistics @PennLinguistics]

Gillian Sankoff has been awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Society of Pidgin and Creole Linguistics. This will be presented at 3:15 today (Jan 11) at the #LSA in rooms 407–408 of the conference Marriott. Please join us to help celebrate her lifetime of achievements!

[Penn Linguistics @PennLinguistics]

Our heartfelt condolences go out to Gillian and the family; they are in our thoughts as we share their deep loss.

[Penn Linguistics @PennLinguistics]

We are deeply saddened by the passing of Bill Labov. He shaped the field of variationist sociolinguistics and helped countless linguists on their paths to stellar careers. His kindness, generosity, and brilliance have been a profound source of inspiration for so many of us.

[Penn Linguistics @PennLinguistics]

The Raymond H. Stetson Scholarship honors the memory of Professor Raymond H. Stetson, a pioneer investigator in phonetics and speech science. The purpose of the scholarship is to facilitate the research efforts of promising graduate students.

[Penn Linguistics @PennLinguistics]

We are delighted to report that May Pik Yu Chan (https://t.co/b6j8HkGazg) has been awarded the Raymond H. Stetson Scholarship in Phonetics and Speech Science (https://t.co/Mk3bqiLNMe)!

[Penn Linguistics @PennLinguistics]

June Choe (with Anna Papafragou) has a talk titled "Children's sensitivity to informativeness in naming: basic-level vs. superordinate nouns".

[Penn Linguistics @PennLinguistics]

The Language & Cognition Lab (https://t.co/UECcpnQHwz) will have a strong presence in January at the 98th Annual Meeting of the Linguistic Society of America with five abstracts accepted as talks!

[Penn Linguistics @PennLinguistics]

Tyler Knowlton (joint work with John Trueswell and Anna Papafragou) has a talk titled "The strength of conservativity: Evidence from learnability experiments".

[Penn Linguistics @PennLinguistics]

https://t.co/1reW61Rs9D

[Penn Linguistics @PennLinguistics]

We are delighted to report that Uğurcan Vurgun, who successfully defended his thesis titled, "From Words to Worlds: Telicity and the Malleability of Event Representations” in August, has accepted a position as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow with Penn Medicine!