Elisabeth J. Kerr
@elisabethjkerr.bsky.social
Linguist / syntactician / Africanist
FWO Postdoctoral Fellow, Ghent University
Visiting Researcher, CNRS-LLACAN
FWO Postdoctoral Fellow, Ghent University
Visiting Researcher, CNRS-LLACAN
Pinned
I am co-convening WS06 with Mark Van de Velde, on the effects of maximality constraints on verb structure. We welcome relevant submissions on any Bantu/Bantoid language - see the full description here: www.bantugent.ugent.be/wp-content/u... #Bantu11
First time in my life I see this way of writing lowercase <i> - these are the words "ikniun" and "oil"
November 18, 2025 at 6:20 PM
First time in my life I see this way of writing lowercase <i> - these are the words "ikniun" and "oil"
Yesterday was the end of the marking period for the UK Linguistics Olympiad - keeping up the annual tradition of marking it (after quickly giving it a go myself). You can find a trove of past years' puzzles here: www.uklo.org/past-exam-pa...
November 18, 2025 at 6:18 PM
Yesterday was the end of the marking period for the UK Linguistics Olympiad - keeping up the annual tradition of marking it (after quickly giving it a go myself). You can find a trove of past years' puzzles here: www.uklo.org/past-exam-pa...
Reposted by Elisabeth J. Kerr
Low bar for authorship these days
November 13, 2025 at 2:09 PM
Low bar for authorship these days
Today in linguistic example sentences 🍅
(Source: Gueche Fotso's 2024 illustration of resumptive pronouns for left-dislocated topics in Nda'Nda')
(Source: Gueche Fotso's 2024 illustration of resumptive pronouns for left-dislocated topics in Nda'Nda')
November 10, 2025 at 5:15 PM
Today in linguistic example sentences 🍅
(Source: Gueche Fotso's 2024 illustration of resumptive pronouns for left-dislocated topics in Nda'Nda')
(Source: Gueche Fotso's 2024 illustration of resumptive pronouns for left-dislocated topics in Nda'Nda')
Moved to Paris for a 4-month research stay at the CNRS research unit Languages and cultures of Africa (LLACAN) 🇫🇷
November 5, 2025 at 9:35 AM
Moved to Paris for a 4-month research stay at the CNRS research unit Languages and cultures of Africa (LLACAN) 🇫🇷
Reposted by Elisabeth J. Kerr
Calls: 11th International Conference on Bantu Languages
Calls: 11th International Conference on Bantu Languages
Call for Papers:
Please see the conference website to read this call in Kiswahili, Lingála, French, Portuguese, and Spanish.
The call for papers for the 11th International Conference on Bantu Languages (Bantu11) at Ghent University (August 18-21, 2026) is now open. The conference will include a general session which welcomes contributions on any aspect of the Bantu languages, alongside eleven workshops on specific topics (see the workshop descriptions on the conference website: https://www
dlvr.it
November 3, 2025 at 1:13 PM
Calls: 11th International Conference on Bantu Languages
The cfp for the 11th International Conference on Bantu languages (#Bantu11) cfp is out! Deadline 1st Dec for submissions to the general session or to one of the 11 workshops, conf. in Ghent/online, 18th-21st August 2026
www.bantugent.ugent.be/bantu11/ #Bantu #linguistics
www.bantugent.ugent.be/bantu11/ #Bantu #linguistics
Bantu 11 Conference – BantUGent – UGent Centre for Bantu Studies
www.bantugent.ugent.be
November 1, 2025 at 1:12 PM
The cfp for the 11th International Conference on Bantu languages (#Bantu11) cfp is out! Deadline 1st Dec for submissions to the general session or to one of the 11 workshops, conf. in Ghent/online, 18th-21st August 2026
www.bantugent.ugent.be/bantu11/ #Bantu #linguistics
www.bantugent.ugent.be/bantu11/ #Bantu #linguistics
Just logged onto #LinkedIn for the first time in 1.5 years in order to opt out of their new policy to use profiles/messages to train generative AI, due to come into effect 3rd Nov. It takes a few clicks and you can do the same here: www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-pr...
How to Protect Your Privacy by Turning Off LinkedIn's AI Data Settings
A Step-by-Step Guide In September 2024, LinkedIn updated its Terms of Service to reflect some changes to generative artificial intelligence (AI) affecting the use of the service and privacy policy. Mo...
www.linkedin.com
October 27, 2025 at 4:34 PM
Just logged onto #LinkedIn for the first time in 1.5 years in order to opt out of their new policy to use profiles/messages to train generative AI, due to come into effect 3rd Nov. It takes a few clicks and you can do the same here: www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-pr...
Cameroonian election results out www.bbc.com/news/live/cx...
Cameroon election: Paul Biya defeats Issa Tchiroma Bakary, official results show
Paul Biya extends his 43 years in power after the Constitutional Council declares him the winner of a heavily disputed election.
www.bbc.com
October 27, 2025 at 11:27 AM
Cameroonian election results out www.bbc.com/news/live/cx...
My review of Bloom Ström et al. (eds.) (2024) 'Morphosyntactic Variation in Bantu' has just been published in the Journal of Historical Syntax: historicalsyntax.org/hs/index.php...
Review of Bloom Ström et al. (eds.) (2024), Morphosyntactic Variation in Bantu
| Journal of Historical Syntax
historicalsyntax.org
October 27, 2025 at 10:05 AM
My review of Bloom Ström et al. (eds.) (2024) 'Morphosyntactic Variation in Bantu' has just been published in the Journal of Historical Syntax: historicalsyntax.org/hs/index.php...
It's nice to be back in Germany. This beer is pleasantly called BAYREUTHER HELL
October 23, 2025 at 8:51 PM
It's nice to be back in Germany. This beer is pleasantly called BAYREUTHER HELL
The brand new African Studies research centre building at @unibayreuth.bsky.social looks very good in autumnal colours
October 23, 2025 at 2:35 PM
The brand new African Studies research centre building at @unibayreuth.bsky.social looks very good in autumnal colours
On the way from Gent to Bayreuth to speak at a workshop on Tunen language and indigenous law. May the Deutsche Bahn gods smile upon me 🙏
Step 1: Gent - Brussels Midi
Step 1: Gent - Brussels Midi
October 22, 2025 at 7:28 AM
On the way from Gent to Bayreuth to speak at a workshop on Tunen language and indigenous law. May the Deutsche Bahn gods smile upon me 🙏
Step 1: Gent - Brussels Midi
Step 1: Gent - Brussels Midi
UGent's copy of the Oxford Guide to the Bantu Languages has finally arrived in the library - absolute unit of a book!
October 21, 2025 at 12:14 PM
UGent's copy of the Oxford Guide to the Bantu Languages has finally arrived in the library - absolute unit of a book!
Reposted by Elisabeth J. Kerr
Look it’s published! 😍
Thank you to the three editors and my co-authors, and now it’s there for all of you (and your students) to read up about comparative syntax 🤓 📖
Thank you to the three editors and my co-authors, and now it’s there for all of you (and your students) to read up about comparative syntax 🤓 📖
October 14, 2025 at 5:14 PM
Look it’s published! 😍
Thank you to the three editors and my co-authors, and now it’s there for all of you (and your students) to read up about comparative syntax 🤓 📖
Thank you to the three editors and my co-authors, and now it’s there for all of you (and your students) to read up about comparative syntax 🤓 📖
Today, Belgian university employees are called upon to protest against the Arizona government. Nothing against the US state - apparently named because the five component parties of the Belgian Federal government's colours match the (oh-so-well-known) Arizonan flag
October 14, 2025 at 6:59 AM
Today, Belgian university employees are called upon to protest against the Arizona government. Nothing against the US state - apparently named because the five component parties of the Belgian Federal government's colours match the (oh-so-well-known) Arizonan flag
Reposted by Elisabeth J. Kerr
Calls: Innaugural Workshop of the Young Africanists' Research Network
Calls: Innaugural Workshop of the Young Africanists' Research Network
Final Call for Papers:
Deadline extended to October 22nd, 2025.
The goal of the Young Africanists’ Research Network (YARN) is to highlight linguistic research being done on African languages and the early-career scholars behind this work. We also seek to foster collaboration and discussion surrounding theoretical and methodological issues in our field.
To meet this aim, we are hosting our inaugural workshop on March 19th-20th, 2026 at the University of Göttingen.
Invited Speakers:
dlvr.it
October 10, 2025 at 2:12 PM
Calls: Innaugural Workshop of the Young Africanists' Research Network
Reposted by Elisabeth J. Kerr
We aren't quite on the summer roadshow yet, but you will find us next at Generative Linguistics in the Old World (GLOW) conference with @mishee54.bsky.social representing #edusky #langsky #linguistics
October 10, 2025 at 8:40 AM
We aren't quite on the summer roadshow yet, but you will find us next at Generative Linguistics in the Old World (GLOW) conference with @mishee54.bsky.social representing #edusky #langsky #linguistics
Reposted by Elisabeth J. Kerr
It is that time of year again for linguistics students to start thinking of graduate school applications. In order to help them out, I wrote the following blog post. It is by far the most popular blog post I ever wrote. ordinaryworkinggrammarian.blogspot.com/2019/12/writ...
Writing a Statement of Purpose for Linguistics Graduate School
A blog about natural language syntax. Topics will include (but are not limited to): syntax, semantics, morphology, typology and syntactic fieldwork.
ordinaryworkinggrammarian.blogspot.com
October 10, 2025 at 12:19 PM
It is that time of year again for linguistics students to start thinking of graduate school applications. In order to help them out, I wrote the following blog post. It is by far the most popular blog post I ever wrote. ordinaryworkinggrammarian.blogspot.com/2019/12/writ...
Reposted by Elisabeth J. Kerr
Confs: Language Documentation & Archiving 2026
Confs: Language Documentation & Archiving 2026
Language documentation and archiving are key activities in the effort to preserve and support linguistic and cultural diversity globally. As new technologies emerge and evolve, new opportunities and challenges present themselves for how we record, curate, preserve, and disseminate linguistic and cultural materials. This conference invites documenters, scholars, activists, technologists, and others engaged in language documentation and archiving to present papers and posters exploring new approac
dlvr.it
October 7, 2025 at 4:11 PM
Confs: Language Documentation & Archiving 2026
Reposted by Elisabeth J. Kerr
CALL FOR COLLABORATORS
The MapLE project is looking for 5 collaborators working on African languages, to collect and analyse data on the speaker’s and addressee’s knowledge in grammar. Will you join our project?
See the website for details:
epistemicity.net/call-collabo...
The MapLE project is looking for 5 collaborators working on African languages, to collect and analyse data on the speaker’s and addressee’s knowledge in grammar. Will you join our project?
See the website for details:
epistemicity.net/call-collabo...
Call collaborators
Call for collaborators MapLE project The NWO Vici project ‘Mapping Linguistic Epistemicity’ (MapLE) invites 5 collaborators to help with data collection and analysis. Come join the MapLE team! Desc…
epistemicity.net
October 3, 2025 at 2:27 PM
CALL FOR COLLABORATORS
The MapLE project is looking for 5 collaborators working on African languages, to collect and analyse data on the speaker’s and addressee’s knowledge in grammar. Will you join our project?
See the website for details:
epistemicity.net/call-collabo...
The MapLE project is looking for 5 collaborators working on African languages, to collect and analyse data on the speaker’s and addressee’s knowledge in grammar. Will you join our project?
See the website for details:
epistemicity.net/call-collabo...
Reposted by Elisabeth J. Kerr
Great news!
JSTOR now have a free account with an Independent Researcher category. You can access 100 documents per month
www.jstor.org/action/showL...
JSTOR now have a free account with an Independent Researcher category. You can access 100 documents per month
www.jstor.org/action/showL...
September 29, 2025 at 3:27 PM
Great news!
JSTOR now have a free account with an Independent Researcher category. You can access 100 documents per month
www.jstor.org/action/showL...
JSTOR now have a free account with an Independent Researcher category. You can access 100 documents per month
www.jstor.org/action/showL...
Reposted by Elisabeth J. Kerr
Confs: 11th International Conference on Bantu Languages
Confs: 11th International Conference on Bantu Languages
Please see the conference website (https://www.bantugent.ugent.be/bantu11/) for versions of this announcement in Kiswahili, Lingála, français, português, and español.
The BantUGent team is happy to welcome you to the city of Ghent (Belgium) for the 11th International Conference on Bantu Languages (Bantu11). It will take place from August 18 to August 21, 2026, just before the 55th Colloquium on African Languages and Linguistics (CALL 2026) in Leiden (the Netherlands) from August 24th till Aug
dlvr.it
September 29, 2025 at 12:14 PM
Confs: 11th International Conference on Bantu Languages
Reposted by Elisabeth J. Kerr
this really works!
Free pro tip: when using Google Translate from English to French, if you want to switch from informal-you to formal-you, end the sentence with "sir." To achieve the opposite, end it with "you bastard."
E.g., "You had one job, you bastard." (I'm rehearsing my lines en route to meet my landlord. 🫠)
E.g., "You had one job, you bastard." (I'm rehearsing my lines en route to meet my landlord. 🫠)
September 25, 2025 at 4:44 PM
this really works!