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Niclas Burenhult received his Ph.D. in General Linguistics from Lund University in 2002. He is Associate Professor of General Linguistics at the Centre for Languages and Literature, and former Research Associate at the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen. His research interests include the relationship between language, culture and cognition, semantic typology, language documentation and description, and linguistic prehistory, with particular focus on Southeast Asia. He has a particular interest in linguistic categorisation of landscape and was awarded a European Research Council Starting Grant in 2010 for the project 'Language, cognition and landscape (LACOLA)'. He is a leading expert on the Aslian languages, a group of Austroasiatic languages spoken in the Malay Peninsula, and he is a coordinator of the digital resource RWAAI. His research is currently funded by two grants from the Bank of Sweden Tercentenary Foundation.
Research
Present projects
Completed projects
- Digital Multimedia Archive of Austroasiatic Intangible Heritage (Dig-AAA) (research leader)
- Driving forces of semantic categorisation: meaning across domains and languages among minorities of the Malay Peninsula (research leader)
- Language, cognition and landscape: understanding cross-cultural and individual variation in geographical ontology (research leader)
About the research
Niclas Burenhult received his Ph.D. in General Linguistics from Lund University in 2002. He is Associate Professor of General Linguistics at the Centre for Languages and Literature, Lund University, and former Research Associate in the Language and Cognition Group at the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen. His research interests include the relationship between language, culture and cognition, semantic typology, language documentation and description, and linguistic prehistory, with particular focus on Southeast Asia. He has a particular interest in linguistic categorisation of landscape and was awarded a European Research Council Starting Grant in 2010 for the project 'Language, cognition and landscape (LACOLA)'. He is a leading expert on the Aslian languages, a group of Austroasiatic languages spoken in the Malay Peninsula, and he is a coordinator of the digital resource 'Repository and Workspace for Austroasiatic Intangible Heritage' (RWAAI). His research is currently funded by two grants from the Swedish Foundation for Humanities and Social Sciences.
Publications
Books (2)
- Burenhult, N. (2005). A grammar of Jahai. Pacific Linguistics, 566. Pacific Linguistics.
- Burenhult, N. (2002). A grammar of Jahai. Linguistics and Phonetics. Dissertation.
Editorships (5)
- (2020). (Ed.) Hunter Gatherer Research : Vol. 4, No. 3. Hunter Gatherer Research, 4, 287-426. Liverpool University Press.
- Burenhult, N., Holmer, A., Karlsson, A., Lundström, H. & Svantesson, J.-O. (2012). (Eds.) Humanities of the lesser-known : New directions in the description, documentation and typology of endangered languages and musics, 10-11th September 2010, Lund University, Sweden. Language Documentation and Description, 10.
- Mark, D. M., Turk, A., Burenhult, N. & Stea, D. (2011). (Eds.) Landscape in language : Transdisciplinary perspectives. John Benjamins Publishing Company.
- (2008). (Ed.) Language and landscape : geographical ontology in cross-linguistic perspective. Language Sciences, 30. Elsevier.
- Burenhult, N. (2008). (Ed.) Language and landscape: geographical ontology in cross-linguistic perspective. Language Sciences, 30.
Articles (25)
- Burenhult, N. (accepted/in press). Domain-driven documentation : the case of landscape. Language Documentation & Conservation. University of Hawai'i Press.
- Burenhult, N. & Purves, R. (2020). The spatial properties of forager motion categories : Evidence from Jahai. Hunter Gatherer Research, 4, 411-426. Liverpool University Press.
- Larsson, J., Burenhult, N., Kruspe, N., Purves, R., Rothstein, M. & Sercombe, P. (2020). Integrating behavioral and geospatial data on the timeline : Towards new dimensions of analysis. International Journal of Social Research Methodology. Taylor & Francis.
- O'Meara, C., Burenhult, N., Rothstein, M. & Sercombe, P. (2020). Representing space and place : hunter-gatherer perspectives. Hunter Gatherer Research, 4, 287-309. Liverpool University Press.
- Hägerhäll, C., Sang, A. O., Englund, J.-E., Ahlner, F., Huber, J., Rybka, K. & Burenhult, N. (2018). Do humans really prefer semi-open natural landscapes? A cross-cultural reappraisal. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 1-14. Frontiers.
- Majid, A., Burenhult, N., Stensmyr, M., de Valk, J. & Hansson, B. S. (2018). Olfactory language and abstraction across cultures. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 373. Royal Society.
- Burenhult, N., Hill, C., Huber, J., van Putten, S., Rybka, K. & San Roque, L. (2017). Forests : the cross-linguistic perspective. Geographica Helvetica, 72, 455-464. Fotorotar AG.
- Yager, J. & Burenhult, N. (2017). Jedek : a newly discovered Aslian variety of Malaysia. Linguistic Typology, 21, 493-545. De Gruyter.
- Majid, A. & Burenhult, N. (2014). Odors are expressible in language, as long as you speak the right language. Cognition, 130, 266-270. Elsevier.
- Wnuk, E. & Burenhult, N. (2014). Contact and isolation in hunter-gatherer language dynamics: evidence from Maniq phonology (Aslian, Malay Peninsula). Studies in Language, 38, 956-981. John Benjamins Publishing Company.
- Dunn, M., Kruspe, N. & Burenhult, N. (2013). Time and place in the prehistory of the Aslian languages. Human Biology, 85, 383-399. Wayne State University Press.
- Burenhult, N., Holmer, A., Karlsson, A., Lundström, H. & Svantesson, J.-O. (2012). Humanities of the lesser-known: an overview. Language Documentation and Description, 10, 5-11.
- Burenhult, N. & Majid, A. (2011). Olfaction in Aslian ideology and language. The Senses & Society, 6, 19-29. Bloomsbury Publishing.
- Dunn, M., Burenhult, N., Kruspe, N., Tufvesson, S. & Becker, N. (2011). Aslian linguistic prehistory: a case study in computational phylogenetics. Diachronica, 28, 291-323. John Benjamins Publishing Company.
- Burenhult, N. (2009). Commento a M. Meschiari: Roots of the savage mind: apophenia and imagination as cognitive process. Quaderni di semantica, 30, 239-242.
- Burenhult, N. & Wegener, C. (2009). Preliminary notes on the phonology, orthography and vocabulary of Semnam (Austroasiatic, Malay Peninsula). Journal of the Southeast Asian Linguistics Society, 1, 283-312.
- Levinson, S. & Burenhult, N. (2009). Semplates: a new concept in lexical semantics?. Language, 85, 153-174. Linguistic Society of America.
- Burenhult, N. (2008). Spatial coordinate systems in demonstrative meaning. Linguistic Typology, 12, 99-142. De Gruyter.
- Burenhult, N. (2008). Streams of words: hydrological lexicon in Jahai. Language Sciences, 30, 182-199. Elsevier.
- Burenhult, N. & Levinson, S. (2008). Language and landscape: a cross-linguistic perspective. Language Sciences, 30, 135-150. Elsevier.
- Terrill, A. & Burenhult, N. (2008). Orientation as a strategy of spatial reference. Studies in Language, 32, 93-136. John Benjamins Publishing Company.
- Burenhult, N. (2006). Body part terms in Jahai. Language Sciences, 28, 162-180. Elsevier.
- Burenhult, N. (2003). Attention, accessibility, and the addressee: the case of the Jahai demonstrative ton. Pragmatics, 13, 363-379.
- Burenhult, N. (2001). Jahai phonology: a preliminary survey. Mon-Khmer Studies, 31, 29-45. Mahidol University.
- Burenhult, N. (1999). A bibliographical guide to Aslian linguistics. Mon-Khmer Studies, 29, 133-141. Mahidol University.
Book chapters (13)
- Burenhult, N. (2020). Foraging and the history of languages in the Malay Peninsula. In Güldemann, T., McConvell, P. & Rhodes, R. A. (Eds.) The Language of Hunter-Gatherers (pp. 164-197). Cambridge University Press.
- Kruspe, N. & Burenhult, N. (2019). Pronouns in affinal avoidance registers : Evidence from the Aslian languages (Austroasiatic, Malay Peninsula). In Bouissac, P. (Ed.) Pragmatics and Beyond New Series, The social dynamics of pronominal systems : A comparative approach (pp. 289-317), 304. John Benjamins Publishing Company.
- Burenhult, N. (2018). The Jahai multi-term demonstrative system : what’s spatial about it?. In Levinson, S. C., Cutfield, S., Dunn, M., Enfield, N. & Meira, S. (Eds.) Language, Culture & Cognition, Demonstratives in cross-linguistic perspective (pp. 361-380). Cambridge University Press.
- Burenhult, N. & Kruspe, N. (2016). The language of eating and drinking: a window on Orang Asli meaning-making. In Endicott, K. (Ed.) Malaysia’s original people : Past, present and future of the Orang Asli (pp. 175-199). National University of Singapore Press.
- Kruspe, N., Burenhult, N. & Wnuk, E. (2014). Northern Aslian. In Sidwell, P. & Jenny, M. (Eds.) Handbook of the Austroasiatic Languages (pp. 419-474). Brill Academic Publishers.
- Burenhult, N. (2012). The linguistic encoding of placement and removal events in Jahai. In Kopecka, A. & Narasimhan, B. (Eds.) Events of "putting" and "taking": A crosslinguistic approach (pp. 21-36). John Benjamins Publishing Company.
- Gullberg, M. & Burenhult, N. (2012). Probing the linguistic encoding of placement and removal events in Swedish. In Kopecka, A. & Narasimhan, B. (Eds.) Events of putting and taking: A crosslinguistic perspective (pp. 167-182). John Benjamins Publishing Company.
- Burenhult, N. (2011). The coding of reciprocal events in Jahai. In Evans, N., Gaby, A., Levinson, S. C. & Majid, A. (Eds.) Reciprocals and semantic typology (pp. 163-176). John Benjamins Publishing Company.
- Burenhult, N., Kruspe, N. & Dunn, M. (2011). Language history and culture groups among Austroasiatic-speaking foragers of the Malay Peninsula. In Enfield, N. (Ed.) Dynamics of human diversity: the case of Mainland Southeast Asia (pp. 257-275). Pacific Linguistics.
- Mark, D. M., Turk, A., Burenhult, N. & Stea, D. (2011). Landscape in language: An introduction. In Mark, D. M., Turk, A., Burenhult, N. & Stea, D. (Eds.) Landscape in language: Transdisciplinary perspectives (pp. 1-24). John Benjamins Publishing Company.
- Burenhult, N. (2001). Linguistic aspects of the Semang. Minority cultures of Peninsular Malaysia: survivals of indigenous heritage, 75-82. Academy of Social Sciences (AKASS).
- Burenhult, N. (1999). Vad vet vi om Nordens språkliga förhistoria?. In Burenhult, G. (Ed.) Arkeologi i Norden (pp. 144-145). Natur och kultur.
- Burenhult, N. (1997). Vilket språk talade gropkeramikerna?. In Burenhult, G. (Ed.) Ajvide och den moderna arkeologin (pp. 154-160). Natur och kultur.
Conference contributions (4)
- Burenhult, N. (2015). Mapping categories of the past and present for the future : the case of hunter-gatherer motion.
- Burenhult, N. (2004). Spatial deixis in Jahai. In Burusphat, S. (Ed.) Papers from the Eleventh Annual Meeting of the Southeast Asian Linguistics Society 2001 (pp. 87-100). Arizona State University: Program for Southeast Asian Studies.
- Svantesson, J.-O. & Burenhult, N. (2003). Mental landscapes in prehistoric Southeast Asia: a view from linguistics. In Karlström, A. & Källén, A. (Eds.) Fishbones and glittering emblems: Southeast Asian Archaeology 2002 (pp. 281-287). Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, Stockholm.
- Burenhult, N. (2000). Nominalizer and unitizer : the /n/ affix in Jahai. Proceedings from the Fifth International Symposium on Languages and Linguistics, 45-55. Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh City University of Social Sciences and Humanities.
Reports (2)
- Burenhult, N. (2014). Tankar från det humanvetenskapliga verkstadsgolvet. Forskningsöversikter yngre forskare : visioner för humanistisk och samhällsvetenskaplig forskning. Swedish Research Council.
- Burenhult, N. & Levinson, S. C. (2010). Semplates: a guide to identification and elicitation. Field manual, 13. Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics.
Working papers (5)
- Burenhult, N. (2005). Landscape terms and toponyms in Jahai: a field report. Wokring Papers, 51. Department of Linguistics, Lund University.
- Burenhult, N. (2001). Loanword phonology in Jahai. Working Papers, Lund University, Dept. of Linguistics, 48.
- Burenhult, N. (1999). PPs, particles and polysemy of a basic Swedish speech act verb. Working Papers, Lund University, Dept. of Linguistics, 47.
- Flyman Mattsson, A. & Burenhult, N. (1999). Code-switching in second language teaching of French. Working Papers, Lund University, Dept. of Linguistics, 47.
- Burenhult, N. (1996). Deep linguistic prehistory with particular reference to Andamanese *. Working Papers, Lund University, Dept. of Linguistics, 45.
Reviews (1)
Articles in specialist publications and popular press (2)
- Widlok, T. & Burenhult, N. (2014). Sehen, riechen, orientieren. Spektrum der Wissenschaft, 76-81. Scientific American.
- Burenhult, N. (1997). Hur talade forntidens folk?. Populär Arkeologi, 97, 13-16. Anders Ljungberg.
Supervision at Lund University (1)
Research portal (Lund University)
Administrative
Tasks
- Member, Forskningsnämnden, Joint Faculties of Humanities and Theology
Teaching
Teaching spring 2020
Other tasks and qualifications
House prefect, Villa Blix
Print Jun. 5, 2020 of https://www.sol.lu.se/en/the-department/staff/person/
