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Randy LaPolla

Professor Emeritus Randy LaPolla

  • Post Nominals: FAHA
  • Fellow Type: Corresponding Fellow
  • Elected to the Academy: 2008

Biography

Randy J. LaPolla, PhD (UC Berkeley) 1990, Career: Academia Sinica, Taiwan (1990-1998), City University of Hong Kong (1996-2004), La Trobe University.(2004-2012, also President of Australian Linguistic Society 2007-2009), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. (July 2012-August 2021), Center for Language Sciences, Institute for Advanced Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Zhuhai Campus (August 2021-December 2023). Editor of international refereed journal Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area (2005-2012), Associate Editor of Journal of Sino-Tibetan Linguistics (2014-2019). His research is mainly on the documentation and analysis of Sino-Tibetan languages, and attempting to answer the question of why the languages of this language family are the way they are. An interest in typology and pragmatics informs this work. From this work he has also developed answers to more general theoretical questions, such as the nature of communication and its function in communication, and insights into human behaviour more generally.

Acknowledgement of Country

The Australian Academy of the Humanities recognises Australia’s First Nations Peoples as the traditional owners and custodians of this land, and their continuous connection to country, community and culture.

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Acknowledgement of Country

The Australian Academy of the Humanities recognises Australia’s First Nations Peoples as the traditional owners and custodians of this land, and their continuous connection to country, community and culture.