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Erik Anonby

Professor

• Litt.D. (Leiden), M.L.E. (TWU/UQAC), B.A. (TWU)
• 1616 Dunton Tower, �Ӱ�ԭ�� University
• 1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, ON, K1S 5B6
• Email Erik Anonby

Office Hours: By appointment

Biography 

In 2011, following a decade of research across four continents, and after a year teaching linguistics at �Ӱ�ԭ��, I settled in the French Department as a professor of French linguistics. For me, French and linguistics are, like Montréal and smoked meat, inseparable: it was my love for French that motivated me to pursue three degrees in linguistics, and my love for linguistics has opened up my eyes to the astonishing diversity of the French language, both historically and as it is spoken around the world today. My interests revolve around Canadian French and African French, particularly in the areas of prosodic phonology and phonological variation. I am also fascinated by the effects of interaction between these varieties and the languages around them.

Research Interests

• Variation in vowel length and quality in Canadian French
• Linguistics of francophone Africa: African French, Adamawa languages, Mambay
• Languages of the Middle East: Kumzari, the Persian-Luri-Kurdish continuum, Gulf dialects of Persian
• Language mapping
• Language ecology: endangerment and revitalization
• Prosodic phonology: morphological templates, tone and intonation, pharyngealization

My current projects focus on the mapping of Iran’s languages. Language maps that have been produced elsewhere for Iran are either limited in geographic scope, or they rely on general impressions of where languages are spoken, without reference to specific locations or language data. In light of this, I am using the to couple geographic and demographic information with equivalent sets of actual language forms (pronunciation, grammar, and words) originating from all districts in the country. A working classification of all of Iran’s languages and dialects as well as language data questionnaires are available on the , and detailed language maps are currently being assembled for Hormozgan Province of south-west Iran.

2025-2026 Courses

• FREN 2401A (Fall/Winter)
• LING 3007W (Winter)
• ALDS 6407F (Fall)

Grants and Research Positions

2016–2018. Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Canada, Insight Development Grant: “A pilot atlas of the languages of Iran.” Co-investigator: Fraser Taylor.

2014–2016. �Ӱ�ԭ�� University / Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Canada, University Development Grant: “Cartographic representations of Iran’s languages.”

2014–2015. �Ӱ�ԭ�� University, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Junior Research Award: “Materials for an Atlas of Iran’s languages.”

2014. Visiting Scholar, Leiden University Center for Linguistics.

2011–2012. Uppsala University: “Phonologies in conflict: Features of an Arabic–Persian continuum across the Strait of Hormuz.”

2010. Swedish Research Council: “Documentation of minority languages in Iran, sociolinguistic milieu and the role of language in individual and group identity.” Principal investigator: Carina Jahani. Erik Anonby, unit leader for documentation of Kumzari, dialect of Larak Island.

2008–2010. Guest Researcher, Sultan Qaboos University / Leiden University Center for Linguistics: “Documentation of Kumzari, a language of northern Oman.”

Selected Publications and Presentations

Monographs

2014. (with Ashraf Asadi). Bakhtiari studies: Phonology, text, lexicon. Studia Iranica Upsaliensia 24. Uppsala: Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis. 222 pp. (, open access)

2014. Dictionnaire mambay-français, accompagné d’un guide d’orthographe et d’une esquisse linguistique. Cambridge: KWEF. 320 pp. ()

2011. (with Pakzad Yousefian). Adaptive multilinguals: A survey of language on Larak Island, Iran. Studia Iranica Upsaliensia 16. Uppsala: Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis. 157 pp. (, open access)

2011. A grammar of Mambay, an Adamawa language of Chad and Cameroon. Köln: Rüdiger Köppe. 571 pp. ()

2008. Phonology and morphology of Mambay (Niger-Congo, Adamawa). Doctoral dissertation. Leiden: Leiden University. 499 pp. (, open access)

2003. A phonology of Southern Luri. Munich: Lincom Europa. 150 pp. ()

Refereed journal articles

2014. (with Mohammad Aliakbari and Mojtaba Gheitasi). On language distribution in Ilam Province, Iran. Iranian studies 48:6, 1-16. ()

2012. Stress-induced vowel lengthening and harmonization in Kumzari. Orientalia Suecana 61, 54-58. (, open access)

2011. Illustrations of the IPA: Kumzari. Journal of the International Phonetic Association 41:3, 375-80. ()

2010. (with Farideh Okati, Abbas Ali Ahangar and Carina Jahani). Natural processes in Sistani Persian of Iran. Iranian Journal of Applied Language Studies 2:1, 93-120. (, open access)

2007. The labial flap in Mambay: Phonological rarity or fundamental element? Journal of African languages and linguistics 28:1, 1-17. ()

2006. Bāhendayal: Bird classification in Luri. Journal of ethnobiology 26:1, 1-35. ()

2006. Illustrations of the IPA: Mambay. Journal of the International Phonetic Association 36:2, 221-33. ()

2005. Vestigial noun suffixes in Mambay (Niger-Congo, Adamawa): Vestiges of what? Afrika und Übersee 88:1/2, 7-34. ()

2004/5. Kurdish or Luri? Laki’s disputed identity in the Luristan province of Iran. Kurdische Studien 4/5:7-22. ()

2003. Update on Luri: How many languages? Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society 13:2, 171-97. ()

Other publications (selection)

2013. In language survival, is every barrier a barrier? How speakers of Majma-Ma use obstacles as a context for response. Endangered languages beyond boundaries: Community connections, collaborative approaches, and cross-disciplinary research. Proceedings of the 17^th Conference of the Foundation for Endangered Languages, �Ӱ�ԭ�� University, October 1-4, 2013, ed. by Mary Jane Norris et al., 157-61. Bath, United Kingdom: Foundation for Endangered languages. )

2012. Sociolinguistic status of Lori. Encyclopædia Iranica. New York: Center for Iranian Studies, Columbia University. (, open access)

2007. Review of Grammaire du beria, by Angelika Jakobi and Joachim Crass. Journal of African languages and linguistics 28:2, 217-20. ()

Presentations at professional meetings

2014. Most of the world’s languages are disappearing. Does it matter? �Ӱ�ԭ�� University Spring Conference, May 2-4, 2014.

2014. Qu’est-ce que découvrir une « nouvelle » langue ? Enjeux et identités dans la documentation linguistique. Causeries du département de français / Language, logic and information laboratory joint presentation, �Ӱ�ԭ�� University, March 14, 2014.

2013. French in North Africa: Sociolinguistic situation and linguistic features. Guest lecture, Ethnography of North Africa, �Ӱ�ԭ�� University, October 22, 2013.

2013. In language survival, is every barrier a barrier? How speakers of Majma-Ma use obstacles as a context for response. FEL XVII – 17th Conference of the Foundation for Endangered Languages: Endangered languages beyond boundaries: Community connections, collaborative approaches, and cross-disciplinary research, �Ӱ�ԭ�� University, October 1-4, 2013.

2013. (with Hassan Mohebbi Bahmani). Discovery of an Indo-Aryan language in Iran. ICIL5 – 5th International Conference of Iranian Linguistics, Universität Bamberg, August 24-26, 2013.

2011. Iranian–Semitic contact in the Strait of Hormuz: The case of Kumzari. Guest lecture, Språk och litteraturer i Mellanöstern, Central- och Sydasien, Oriental Studies, Department of Linguistics and Philology, Uppsala University, October 7, 2011.

2011. The appearance of velaro-pharyngeal emphasis in Kumzari as an effect of Arabic contact. Invited presentation, Iranian Seminar series, Department of Linguistics and Philology, Uppsala University, September 28, 2011.

2011. (with Christina van der Wal). Iran’s human mosaic. Invited presentation, Iran Cultural Day, Iranian Cultural Society, National Arts Centre, Ottawa, June 9, 2011.

2011. Le français de l’Afrique : agent ou patient ? Le langage chez les Mambay du Cameroun. Invited presentation, French Department, �Ӱ�ԭ�� University, April 7, 2011.

2010. Inheritance and adoption: How unrelated structures co-exist in Kumzari. Invited presentation, Leiden Institute of Area Studies, Middle East lecture series, April 8, 2010.

2010. Divided we stand: Effects of transnationality on minority language vitality. Invited presentation, Department of Frisian Language and Culture, University of Groningen, April 7, 2010.

2010. (with Christina van der Wal). Arma u mi’i: Essentials of Kumzari poetry. Invited presentation, Persian Poëzieavond, Department of Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures, Leiden University, January 15, 2010.

2008. Kumzari: Language between two worlds. Invited presentation, Department of Linguistics and Philology, Uppsala University, October 21, 2008.

2008. Stress-induced vowel lengthening and harmonization in Kumzari. Paper presented at the 1^st International conference on languages and dialects in Iran, University of Sistan and Baluchestan, October 28-31, 2008.

2008. Morphological templates and ideophonic derivation in Mambay (Niger-Congo, Adamawa). Paper presented at the 38^th Colloquium of African languages and linguistics, Leiden University, August 25-27, 2008.

2004. The labial flap in Mambay (Niger-Congo, Adamawa). Paper presented at the 34^th Colloquium of African languages and linguistics, Leiden University, August 23-25, 2004.