Research interests

Bilingual Manchu-Chinese inscription in Shenyang, China, 2009

Comparative Linguistics

My main academic interest is qualitative research in Panchronic or General Comparative Linguistics as defined in my habilitation submitted to the University of Potsdam. This includes, among others, the following subfields:

Areal linguistics and language contact
Historical comparative lingusitics (see here for an introduction in German)
Language description
Linguistic typology (see here for an introduction in German)

My doctoral dissertation was about an (areal) typology of questions. But there are many more topics I am interested in, e.g.

Aspects of morphosyntax (e.g., negation, possession, relative clauses)
Grammatical relations, word order, and argument marking
Metaphors, metonymies, and blending
Numeral systems and numeral classifiers
Recently extinct languages and how to approach them
Writing systems (e.g., in East Asia, Europe)

Many of my previous publications focused on Tungusic languages in Northeast Asia. However, there are also many more languages I am interested in, e.g.

Bwamu, a Gur language in Burkina Faso (see here for a first result)
Eynu, a mixed language in China (see here for an overview)
Gelao and other Kra languages in Southwest China and Vietnam
Germanic languages (e.g., Bavarian, Gothic)
Hanunoo, an Austronesian language and its script on Mindoro
Indo-Iranian languages (e.g., Bengali, Nepali, Sarikoli)
Japonic languages (Japanese, Ryukyuan)
Loloish languages in China (especially Pholo, Yiluo 伊罗, Bo 僰)
Quechuan languages in South America (see here for a recent talk)
Sinitic, probably including the Ta-Li languages in Southwest China
Tyrsenian languages (Etruscan, Lemnian, Rhaetian)

In my last project at the University of Potsdam (2021-2025) that was concerned with comparative syntax, I worked on a global sample of 40 languages for which extensive data are being published as a database (see here for a preliminary version):

Map showing geographical locations and word order types in the sample of 40 languages

From 2026 to 2029, I will be working with Prof. Martin Salzmann on a new project entitled Relatively (un)limited: The typology and comparative syntax of relative clauses revisited that is also hosted at the University of Potsdam.

Anthropology

I see linguistics as part of a more general endeavour to understand our human nature and (pre)history. As such, I am also interested in other fields of research, such as:

Archaeology, history, and human evolution
Comparative mythology or religion
Ecology and human-environment interactions (e.g., rivers, trees)
Ethnology and the cultures of East Asia and the world
Psychology (e.g., curiosity, exploratory behavior)