A part-time (0.6FTE) 12 month Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in corpus linguistics, historical syntax and language change is available at Northumbria University.

You will support the Principal Investigator (Dr. Phillip Wallage) in delivery of research activity on the Leverhulme Research Project YES and NO: a diachronic approach to the syntax of polar responses.

Responsibilities include:

• collection of linguistic data from corpora of Present-day and historical European languages
• development of appropriate methodologies for data collection and analysis, in collaboration with the Principal Investigator
• qualitative, quantitative and statistical analysis of Present-day and historical language data
• co-authorship of publications and conference papers, in collaboration with the Principal Investigator
• organisation of research networking events and workshops, in collaboration with the Principal Investigator

 The role is fixed-term for 12 months at 0.6FTE (22.2 hours per week) with a proposed start date of September 2025.

 ABOUT THE TEAM and PROJECT

The project is the first systematic study of the histories of words for YES and NO in European languages. Analysing large-scale corpora of Present-day and historical  languages, the project will provide the first comprehensive linguistic account of the origins and historical development of strategies used by European languages to say YES and NO. This study will help us to understand why languages say YES and NO in different ways and why certain words come to function as responses. 

You will work on the project alongside the Principal Investigator Dr. Phillip Wallage.

If you would like an informal discussion about the role, please contact the Principal Investigator Dr. Philip Wallage by email phillip.wallage@northumbria.ac.uk 

Further details about the project, including a person specification and a link for applications, are available on the Northumbria University website here.