TCD School of Linguistic, Speech and Communication Sciences

10/10/2026

10/10/2026

You are invited to our next Linguistics Research Seminar:

Tuesday, 13 October 2026
with Boris Kayachev (Trinity College Dublin) on

" Latin prosody and pragmatics: a poetic perspective'

About the Talk
Abstract: Latin is an inflectional language with a flexible word order; unlike, e.g., English, it uses word endings rather than word order to express syntax.

This does not mean Latin word order is unconstrained or random: some patterns are less frequent than others (or absent altogether), and different patterns can convey different meanings, particularly pragmatic ones.

Yet attempts to explain Latin word order as a function of information structure, though far from fruitless, have yielded limited results: pragmatics is not the only factor determining word order, and it does so in a complex way.

In modern languages, prosody often plays a crucial role in expressing pragmatic meaning, and we can expect the same for Latin. Yet since Latin is a corpus language, and prosody is not systematically recorded in writing, we have no direct access to Latin prosody.

The key hypothesis of this project is that metrical breaks in poetry impose prosodic breaks, and when these occur in (syntactically) unexpected places, we can learn something new about Latin prosody.

More specifically, Boris will examine the metrical/prosodic break that follows verse-initial spondaic words in Latin dactylic poetry, or rather, the words themselves.

His claim is that the following break conveys on them prosodic salience, which can in turn (barring any alternative explanations) in most cases be shown to entail pragmatic salience.

Beyond a general overview of the approach, he will examine examples of verse-initial spondaic words from the three main classes of content words, verbs, nouns, and adjectives (the use of adverbs is pretty limited in Latin poetry), and discuss the insights this approach can produce for each class.

About the Speaker
Boris Kayachev is a Research Fellow in Trinity’s Department of Classics, where he works on the SFI-IRC Pathway project Enjambement in Latin poetry: prosody, pragmatics and word order. Beyond Latin linguistics, especially poetic language, Boris is interested in the textual and literary exegesis of Latin poetry.

All welcome

P.S. New LRS talk to add to your diary: 8 December 2026, Angel L. Jiménez-Fernández (University of Seville).

08/10/2026

Bienvenue, Pierre! 👋 Welcome to Pierre Mézière, who joins LIFELANGS as a doctoral researcher at Queen's University Belfast.

Let's get to know him...
Pierre grew up in a small village in Brittany, France, and has spent most of his adult life in the UK.

He studied English and linguistics at the University of Rennes 2, spent a year in Aberdeen on Erasmus, and later completed an MA in Applied Linguistics and Second Language Acquisition at the University of Oxford. He then taught French and Spanish at a state school in South London.

His PhD will explore how French-speaking families on the island of Ireland see their language, and how they use it, value it and pass it on (or don't) in everyday life. In other words, how does a language travel from one generation to the next when you're living far from where it's most widely spoken?

In Pierre's words:

"I hope this research will offer novel insights into intergenerational language maintenance and how to support diasporic communities in Ireland."

Outside of work, Pierre enjoys learning new languages, playing racket sports and taking part in trivia events. 🎾

About LIFELANGS

It is a Strand II Emerging Hub of Excellence project (2025–2029), funded under the North South Research Programme (NSRP), a scheme funded through the Government's Shared Island Fund and administered by the Higher Education Authority (HEA).

Trinity College Dublin

08/10/2026

On 2 October 2026, our Centre for Asian Studies (TCAS) welcomed H.E. Ms Ellen Jooyeon Kang, Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Ireland, for a visit and meeting with Professor Nathan Hill, Director of TCAS.

Ambassador Woon-Ki LYEO, a Visiting Researcher at Trinity Business School, also attended.

In welcoming Ambassador Kang, Professor Hill expressed his appreciation for the continued support and engagement of the Embassy of the Republic of Korea with TCAS.

During the meeting, participants exchanged views on opportunities for further collaboration between TCAS and the Korean Embassy in Ireland, including future academic and cultural events.

Discussions included a proposed workshop on the “2027 Outlook for the Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia,” which would examine developments concerning North Korea and their implications for the changing regional strategic landscape.

The meeting also discussed the forthcoming Korean literature reading event, being developed in collaboration with the Embassy, as well as possibilities for further academic and cultural initiatives.

It was a wonderful opportunity to strengthen connections with the Embassy and to explore further opportunities for academic, cultural and intellectual exchange between Ireland and Korea.

We look forward to continuing our engagement with the Embassy of the Republic of Korea and developing further opportunities for collaboration.




Trinity College Dublin Global
Trinity College Dublin
Trinity Long Room Hub Arts and Humanities Research Institute
Trinity Centre for Literary and Cultural Translation
Korean Embassy in Ireland

06/10/2026

From Trinity to New Horizons:
Chime Lhamo’s Journey in Endangered Language Research

The Trinity Centre for Asian Studies (TCAS) is delighted to congratulate Chime Lhamo, who has recently completed her PhD in Linguistics and Applied Linguistics at Fudan University and begun a new chapter as a postdoctoral researcher at Southwest Jiaotong University in Chengdu, China.

Chime spent the 2022–2023 academic year at Trinity College Dublin as a CSC-funded joint PhD student. During her time at Trinity, she conducted research under the supervision of Professor Nathan Hill, with additional guidance from Dr Yunfan Lai, focusing on Yargrung Cheyi, an endangered language spoken in Sichuan, China.

As a native speaker of Yargrung Cheyi, Chime combines first-hand knowledge of the speech community with linguistic fieldwork and analysis. Her research focuses on language documentation and grammatical description, and has resulted in publications including an article on argument indexation in Transactions of the Philological Society in 2025.

Chime has also been actively involved in language education and community engagement and was named an Outstanding Graduate of Fudan University in 2026.

TCAS warmly congratulates Chime on completing her PhD and wishes her every success in the next stage of her academic career!

05/10/2026

We've just launched a new Research Report on:
"Motivations and Pathways in Higher Education Language Learning"

Our School of Linguistic, Speech and Communication Sciences hosted the launch of the new research report,
"Motivations and Pathways in Higher Education Language Learning: Evidence to Inform the Next Phase of Languages Connect"

At the Trinity Long Room Hub Arts and Humanities Research Institute on Friday, 2 October 2026.

Post-Primary Languages Ireland (PPLI / Languages Connect) funded the research on behalf of the Department of Education Youth and Sport through the PPLI Higher Education Institution Funding Call 2025–2026.

Professor Nathan Hill, Head of the School, opened the event, followed by remarks from guest speaker Karen Ruddock, Director of PPLI

The launch brought together representatives from the Department of Education and Youth, the diplomatic community, and language educators and researchers from Irish higher education institutions and beyond.

Hongfei Wang, Rowland Imperial of Trinity College Dublin, and Erin McNamara Cullen of South East Technological University led the research.

This mixed-methods study examined students’ experiences of language learning in higher education, with a particular focus on motivation, participation and continuity.

The findings reveal strong student motivation alongside structural barriers to participation, highlighting the need for more flexible and connected pathways across different stages of education.

The study also considers continuity across the wider language-learning continuum, from early education to higher education and lifelong learning, as well as the role of artificial intelligence in language education, and positions as a wider strategic capacity for higher education and beyond.

The launch concluded with the official release of the report and a reception at the Trinity Long Room Hub, giving policymakers, researchers, and language educators an opportunity to continue discussions on the future of language education in Ireland.

The full report is available here: https://doi.org/10.25546/113177

Higher Education Authority Ire
Languages Connect
Lifelangs Living Observatory
fans
Language Exchange Ireland
Languagenut Ireland
Irish Language Education Advocacy
School of Languages, Literatures and Cultural Studies, TCD
Department of Culture, Communications and Sport
of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science
TCD MSc Clinical Speech & Language Studies

05/10/2026

Great to see this new tool out in the open - a great example of innovation at work here in Trinity!

05/10/2026

The Intellectual Exchange between Japan and Ireland is getting stronger.

On 25 September 2026, Professor Nathan Hill, Director of the Trinity Centre for Asian Studies (TCAS), met with H.E. Ambassador MIYAGAWA Manabu, Ambassador of Japan to Ireland, to discuss opportunities for strengthening intellectual exchange between Japan and Ireland

The meeting included an initial discussion on developing a series of talks featuring individuals active across a wide range of fields in Japan and Ireland, as part of activities commemorating the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Japan and Ireland in 2027.

This forthcoming anniversary is an important opportunity to deepen academic and intellectual connections between the two countries.

The Embassy of Japan in Ireland has also committed to using this milestone to further strengthen intellectual exchange between Japan and Ireland.

We look forward to continuing our engagement with the Embassy and contributing to activities marking this important anniversary in 2027.

Trinity College Dublin
Trinity Centre for Literary and Cultural TranslationAsian & Irish Community Connect
Japan Society
TCD Japanese Society

29/09/2026

Inspiring news! Linguistics, language technology and inclusive education have come together to remove barriers to communication.

Researchers at Trinity College Dublin’s ABAIR.ie initiative have developed Géabaire, a new Irish-language communication tool designed for autistic children who are non-speaking or have limited speech.

Why does it matter? It's a bold step toward making Language Learning more inclusive, supporting language-learning accessibility and Irish-medium education.

The tool addresses an important challenge: children learning and living through Irish need access to appropriate communication technologies in Irish, rather than having to switch to English in order to use assistive tools.

It also demonstrates the growing role technology can play in developing digital infrastructure for minority and under-resourced languages.

This app could enable learners with different communication needs to participate in the same language community.

Read the RTÉ report for the full story
https://www.rte.ie/news/ireland/2026/0929/1593287-irish-language-tool/



Languages Connect
PPLI / Languages Connect

Irish Language Education Advocacy

26/09/2026

How do languages shape life in Northern Ireland?

Lean in and listen to LIFELANGS researcher Dr Ian Collen on BBC Radio Ulster’s Talkback to discuss languages in Northern Ireland. It’s a conversation closely connected to our work exploring how communities share language and identity.

🎧 For those of you who can catch BBC's radio player
- Listen from around 30 minutes in:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0031t15