Martin Haspelmath
@haspelmath.bsky.social
comparative linguist, MPI for Evolutionary Anthropology (Leipzig); https://www.eva.mpg.de/linguistic-and-cultural-evolution/staff/martin-haspelmath
It's striking how good AI assistants are at reading linguistics texts. I couldn't have explained the neologism "synexpression" better. In fact, saying that synexpression is about bundling, while coexpression is about sharing is perhaps better than anything I have said. (ling.auf.net/lingbuzz/007...)
November 4, 2025 at 11:36 AM
It's striking how good AI assistants are at reading linguistics texts. I couldn't have explained the neologism "synexpression" better. In fact, saying that synexpression is about bundling, while coexpression is about sharing is perhaps better than anything I have said. (ling.auf.net/lingbuzz/007...)
What is a “copula”, and what is “predicative inflection”? This new blogpost continues the comparison between the comparative concepts of Creissels et al. (2026) (in Bertinetto et al. 2026) and those of Haspelmath (2025): dlc.hypotheses.org/3865
October 28, 2025 at 11:26 AM
What is a “copula”, and what is “predicative inflection”? This new blogpost continues the comparison between the comparative concepts of Creissels et al. (2026) (in Bertinetto et al. 2026) and those of Haspelmath (2025): dlc.hypotheses.org/3865
Many thanks to Lilián Guerrero for inviting me to give lectures at UNAM in Mexico City! (The lecture materials are here: zenodo.org/records/1743...)
October 25, 2025 at 9:58 PM
Many thanks to Lilián Guerrero for inviting me to give lectures at UNAM in Mexico City! (The lecture materials are here: zenodo.org/records/1743...)
Bertinetto, Ciucci and Creissels just published a fantastic new cross-linguistic handbook. But I have some critical comments on their introductory chapter. It turns out that it's not so easy to say what exactly is "nonverbal predication". dlc.hypotheses.org/3832
October 15, 2025 at 4:38 AM
Bertinetto, Ciucci and Creissels just published a fantastic new cross-linguistic handbook. But I have some critical comments on their introductory chapter. It turns out that it's not so easy to say what exactly is "nonverbal predication". dlc.hypotheses.org/3832
My paper on two types of comparative concepts (construction-functions and construction-strategies) is now published: langsci-press.org/catalog/book...
October 1, 2025 at 1:48 PM
My paper on two types of comparative concepts (construction-functions and construction-strategies) is now published: langsci-press.org/catalog/book...
RIP Peter Eisenberg (1940-2025), syntactician of German, phonologist, orthography specialist, and very public linguist (who was not afraid of controversies). He was my second PhD advisor in 1990-93, and an important person in my life during those years at FU Berlin. de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_E...
September 28, 2025 at 2:26 PM
RIP Peter Eisenberg (1940-2025), syntactician of German, phonologist, orthography specialist, and very public linguist (who was not afraid of controversies). He was my second PhD advisor in 1990-93, and an important person in my life during those years at FU Berlin. de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_E...
September 23, 2025 at 3:47 PM
September 13, 2025 at 3:10 PM
September 12, 2025 at 1:13 PM
What's a word? Quid verbum st? Flavio Cecchini on Latin "words" for UD (Universal Dependencies), inspired by Haspelmath (2023): aclanthology.org/anthology-fi...
August 6, 2025 at 3:29 PM
What's a word? Quid verbum st? Flavio Cecchini on Latin "words" for UD (Universal Dependencies), inspired by Haspelmath (2023): aclanthology.org/anthology-fi...
If you're not WEIRD, you're WILD? Hmmm...
July 22, 2025 at 7:40 PM
If you're not WEIRD, you're WILD? Hmmm...
Congratulations to Thomas Stolz on the festschrift on the occasion of his 68th birthday (in open access): www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi...
July 17, 2025 at 7:11 AM
Congratulations to Thomas Stolz on the festschrift on the occasion of his 68th birthday (in open access): www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi...
An interesting exhibit at Leipzig University on Wilhelm Wundt, the founder of modern psychology (in Leipzig between 1875 and 1920). Alas, in 1914 he gave full support to the war, so he does not reach the height of true science heroes like Einstein. www.ub.uni-leipzig.de/aktuelle-aus...
July 12, 2025 at 4:46 PM
An interesting exhibit at Leipzig University on Wilhelm Wundt, the founder of modern psychology (in Leipzig between 1875 and 1920). Alas, in 1914 he gave full support to the war, so he does not reach the height of true science heroes like Einstein. www.ub.uni-leipzig.de/aktuelle-aus...
A new grammar of Khowar, an Indic language of Pakistan, published (in OA) by UCL Press. uclpress.co.uk/book/a-gramm...
July 10, 2025 at 4:23 PM
A new grammar of Khowar, an Indic language of Pakistan, published (in OA) by UCL Press. uclpress.co.uk/book/a-gramm...
Bromham et al. (2025) claim that small/isolated populations are more likely to speak "polysynthetic" languages – but they don't have a definition of "polysynthesis". But what if linguists are more likely to describe a language as such if it's spoken by a small community? www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1...
July 4, 2025 at 4:46 AM
Bromham et al. (2025) claim that small/isolated populations are more likely to speak "polysynthetic" languages – but they don't have a definition of "polysynthesis". But what if linguists are more likely to describe a language as such if it's spoken by a small community? www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1...
Interested in Balkan languages? The definitive reference work has arrived – on 1000 pages, in open access. www.cambridge.org/core/books/b...
June 30, 2025 at 7:12 PM
Interested in Balkan languages? The definitive reference work has arrived – on 1000 pages, in open access. www.cambridge.org/core/books/b...
Daniel Hieber calls the language "Hawaiian" (not "Hawai'ian", or Hawaiʻian with ʻokina), because that's the English name. Yes, languages have English names... linguisticdiscovery.com/posts/hawaii...
June 22, 2025 at 4:09 AM
Daniel Hieber calls the language "Hawaiian" (not "Hawai'ian", or Hawaiʻian with ʻokina), because that's the English name. Yes, languages have English names... linguisticdiscovery.com/posts/hawaii...
"Parameters" of generative grammar are now part of history – an interesting development hiphilangsci.net/2025/05/28/p...
May 28, 2025 at 8:16 AM
"Parameters" of generative grammar are now part of history – an interesting development hiphilangsci.net/2025/05/28/p...
Interestingly, "descriptive linguistics" exists again! The term was used widely in American linguistics from the 1920s to the 1950s, as "descriptive linguists" challenged the dominance of historical linguists (and founded the LSA), describing languages worldwide. linguistics.cz/planned-even...
May 28, 2025 at 5:24 AM
Interestingly, "descriptive linguistics" exists again! The term was used widely in American linguistics from the 1920s to the 1950s, as "descriptive linguists" challenged the dominance of historical linguists (and founded the LSA), describing languages worldwide. linguistics.cz/planned-even...
How efficient is the grant that you are applying for? Here is an online funding efficiency calculator: ipvs.informatik.uni-stuttgart.de/sc/cgi-bin/J... (see also www.nature.com/articles/s41...)
May 22, 2025 at 6:26 AM
How efficient is the grant that you are applying for? Here is an online funding efficiency calculator: ipvs.informatik.uni-stuttgart.de/sc/cgi-bin/J... (see also www.nature.com/articles/s41...)
When does a language "die"? In 1993, I posted an "obituary" of Ubykh, because its last known speaker had just died (linguistlist.org/issues/4/437/). But recently,V. Chirikba published a new Ubykh text – a song recorded from his son. So maybe Ubykh has a future after all? brill.com/view/journal...
May 19, 2025 at 10:01 AM
When does a language "die"? In 1993, I posted an "obituary" of Ubykh, because its last known speaker had just died (linguistlist.org/issues/4/437/). But recently,V. Chirikba published a new Ubykh text – a song recorded from his son. So maybe Ubykh has a future after all? brill.com/view/journal...
This paper gives good reasons why science and politics should be kept separate (though it's difficult, because our lives are intimately connected to both our science and the politics that affects us). www.nature.com/articles/s41...
May 13, 2025 at 12:05 PM
This paper gives good reasons why science and politics should be kept separate (though it's difficult, because our lives are intimately connected to both our science and the politics that affects us). www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Ten years ago, MPI-EVA's linguistics department (headed by Bernard Comrie, 1998-2015) organized its biggest conference, on "diversity linguistics". It was the final climax of a fantastic period. The programme of the 2015 conference is still available online: www.eva.mpg.de/linguistics/...
April 29, 2025 at 2:01 PM
Ten years ago, MPI-EVA's linguistics department (headed by Bernard Comrie, 1998-2015) organized its biggest conference, on "diversity linguistics". It was the final climax of a fantastic period. The programme of the 2015 conference is still available online: www.eva.mpg.de/linguistics/...
RIP John Haiman (1946-2025). This picture (1995) shows him at the piano with Dan Slobin and Paul Hopper.
April 20, 2025 at 7:25 AM
RIP John Haiman (1946-2025). This picture (1995) shows him at the piano with Dan Slobin and Paul Hopper.