PhD Position in Linguistics: Variation, Optionality, and Dysfluencies (QLVL, KU Leuven) KU Leuven in Belgium

The Quantitative Lexicology and Variational Linguistics (QLVL) research group at the Department of Linguistics, KU Leuven, invites applications for a salaried predoctoral researcher and PhD candidate to join the FWO-funded project "BUG-OR-FEATURE: Variation, optionality, and dysfluencies." The project is led by Prof. dr. Benedikt Szmrecsanyi, Dr. Thomas Van Hoey, and Dr. Matt Hunt Gardner. QLVL specializes in usage-based grammar and cognitive linguistics, focusing on language variation and change, especially lexical and constructional variation, and employs advanced quantitative methods to study these phenomena.

This research will investigate whether language variation and optionality act as impediments ("bugs") or facilitators ("features") in language production. The project bridges variationist linguistics, psycholinguistics, and theoretical linguistics, aiming to understand if optionality at different linguistic levels (grammatical, lexical, phonological) triggers dysfluencies such as UM, UH, and unfilled pauses. The study will analyze large speech corpora, including the Switchboard corpus of US American English and the Bluenose corpus of Canadian Maritime English, using hand-coded data and multivariate modeling.

The successful candidate will conduct research leading to a doctoral degree, publish in international journals, participate in conferences, and assist with local workshops and teaching (up to 20% of time). The position offers full-time employment for one year, renewable for up to four years based on positive evaluation, and includes guidance from a diverse team of researchers. The start date is October 1st at the latest.

Applicants must have a Master's degree in linguistics or a related field, experience with Praat, a strong background in phonetics and/or sociophonetics, statistical literacy (especially in multivariate modeling), a background in English linguistics, and near-native English proficiency. Application materials include a cover letter, CV, and transcripts. KU Leuven is committed to diversity, inclusion, and equal opportunity. For more information, contact Prof. dr. Benedikt Szmrecsanyi or Dr. Thomas Van Hoey by email.