General
 

Contact information

Address:
Institute of Linguistics, Russian Academy of Sciences
B. Kislovskij per. 1
Moscow 125009
RUSSIA

Phone +7 (495) 690 35 56
Fax +7 (495) 690 05 28
E-mail:
 

Research fields:

Language and cognition, discourse, spoken language, multimodality, linguistic diversity, field linguistics, corpus linguistics, computational modeling, Athabaskan languages, Turkic languages, Caucasian languages, West African languages, Russian grammar.

Curriculum vitae
 

Employment

1988 – present: Institute of Linguistics, Russian Academy of Sciences. Current position: Head of the Department of Areal Linguistics.

1995 – present: Department of Theoretical and Applied Linguistics, Philological Faculty, Moscow State University. Current position: Professor.

2011 – present: Moscow State University, Philological Faculty, Head of the Center for Cognitive Studies

For full CV click here.

Ongoing projects
 

A grammar of Upper Kuskokwim Athabaskan

Beginning from 1997, I have been studying Upper Kuskokwim, an Athabaskan language of interior Alaska. Athabaskan languages are very different from a “typological average” in being almost exclusively prefixal, highly polysynthetic, and possessing very unusual morpheme ordering and intricate morphophonemics. Uper Kuskokwim Athabaskan (UKA) is a highly endangered language, as the population speaking it numbers just a couple of dozens, and all fully-fledged speakers are older than 60. Most speakers of UKA reside in the village of Nikolai, Alaska. In the course of five stays in Nikolai, I spent there about 12 months. I am working on an integral description of the structure of UKA, from phonetics to discourse structure. Also, the description is going to include sociolinguistic, ethnographic and historical perspectives on the community. For a preliminary sketch see Kibrik 1998 [pdf 1].
 

Multi-factorial modeling of referential choice

Referential choice is the process of selecting a referential device, such as a full noun phrase or a pronoun, to mention a referent in the course of discoure production. Referential choice is driven by the cognitive system known as working memory. High activation of a referent in the speaker’s working memory leads to reduced forms of reference. Referent activation, in turn, depends on multiple factors, such as discourse structure, antecedent role, animacy, etc. A realistic model of referential choice must cope with such multiplicity of involved factors. In prior work (Kibrik 1996 [pdf], 1999 [pdf], 2011, Gruening and Kibrik 2005 [pdf]) I have developed several models accounting for multiple factors and their interaction. Now, together with Natalia Loukachevitch, Grigory Dobrov, Maria Khudyakova, and Anastasia Linnik, I am are developing a model of referential choice based on an annotated corpus of English texts (RefRhet) and machine learning algorithms (see Kibrik et al. 2010 [pdf], 2012 [pdf]). The ultimate goal of this project is to identify the set of factors responsible for referential choice in discourse, as well as the mechanisms of their interaction.
 

Night Dream Stories and other corpora of spoken discourse

This project is a sequel of the publication Kibrik and Podlesskaya (eds.) 2009 on the Night Dream Stories corpus. It is joint work with Vera Podlesskaya, Nikolay Korotaev, Alla Litvinenko and a number of other colleagues. We are preparing several corpora of spoken Russian discourse. In this project we pay significant attention to discourse prosody and develop a systematic transcription for spoken Russian. We focus on the grammar of spoken Russian and address discourse phenomena, such as discourse local structure, disfluencies, and the underlying cognitive processes.
 

Multimodal approach to discourse: Contributions of communication channels

Mainstream linguistics usually focuses only on the verbal component of linguistic communication. However, some studies in applied psychology claim that prosody and body language are more meaningful than the verbal channel. In a series of experimental studies (see Kibrik 2010) we attempt to estimate the relative contributions of the verbal component, prosody, and body language to the integral process of discourse production and comprehension. Diploma theses of two students of the Department of Theoretical and Applied Linguistics, Moscow State University, namely Ekaterina Èl’bert and Natalia Molchanova, used variations of an experimental methodology, involving the isolation of communication channels, video recorded dialogic stimulus material, and questionnaire procedures. According to the results obtained so far, all communication channels are highly significant. The verbal channel appears the leading one, and the information from the two other channels is processed through integration with the verbal channel. We keep working on the refinement of the experimental methodology and intende to apply this experimental paradigm to different discourse types, such as monologues.
 

Non-discreteness and focal structure

Linguists tend to think about language as a system of discrete, segmental units (phonemes, morphemes, words, sentences...). However, at all level of linguistic structure we face multiple instances of non-discrete boundaries. This applies to syntagmatic sequences and paradigmatic types, formal structure and semantics, synchrony and diachrony, small-scale phenomena and whole languages. Non-discrete effects are also observed in cognitive domains other than language. The omnipresence of non-discreteness testifies that human cognitive processing is fundamentally less than discrete. I propose that human cognition operates on the basis of focal structure consisting of focal points, outliers, and hybrids. This project is in its incipient stage. I am planning to develop a theory of focal structure and methodological avenues helping us to address focal phenomena in various domains of language. See presentation at SLE 2012 [ppt].
 

Textbook in discourse analysis

I have been teaching Discourse analysis in the Department of theoretical and applied linguistics, Moscow State University, since 1995. Gradually I am composing a textbook in discourse analysis that would combine major results in this field with my own approach. According to this approach, three main issues are addressed in discourse analysis: taxonomy or classification of discourse types; discourse structure – both global and local; and influence of discourse factors upon smaller linguistic constituents (syntactic, morphological, and phonetic). History of discourse analysis, relationships with neighboring fields and used methodologies are also addressed in the textbook.
 

Textbook “Languages of the world and language areas”

This is another course I am teaching in the Department of theoretical and applied linguistics. The science of linguistic diversity consists of three main traditional disciplines: genealogical (comparative-historical) linguistics, areal linguistics, and linguistic typology. This course presents a mixture of all three, and also includes elements of sociolinguistics and other related sciences, such as anthropology, archaeology, genetics, etc. I provide an overview of the world’s languages, going from one macroarea to another. There are ten macroareas altogether. I am in the process of writing up a textbook on this topic; see Kibrik 2002 [pdf] for a preliminary prospectus.
 

Encyclopedia “Languages of the World”

This is my main duty in the Institute of Linguistics – I coordinate this longitudinal project that started back in the 1970s. I serve as the Editor-in-Chief of the Encyclopedia. I have co-edited a number of volumes of the encyclopedia: on Paleoasiatic, Turkic, Mongolic, Indo-Aryan, Slavic, Baltic and other languages. Currently our department is preparing up to ten further volumes focusing on various languages of the Old World, including Semitic, Dravidian, Mande, relict languages of Europe and Asia, Austroasiatic, and Sino-Tibetan. To know more about the encyclopedia, click here.
 

Ninilchik Russian

The Russian language has more regional varieties than is usually recognized. This project addresses a variety of Russian that was, and still is, spoken in one area in Alaska, USA – the so-called Ninilchik Russian. Ninilchik is a village in the Kenai peninsula that was used as a retirement settlement in the times of Russian America. Russian speakers, including ethnic Russians and partly-native Alaskan creoles, stayed in Ninilchik after Alaska was acquired by the United States in 1867. A peculiar variety of Russian evolved in Ninilchik during the subsequent decades. Beginning from mid-20^th century a rapid language shift started (from Russian to English), but even now there are several remaining fluent speakers of Ninilchik Russian. Some prominent features of Ninilchik Russian are accounted for in Bergelson and Kibrik 2010 [pdf]. In a joint project with Mira Bergelson and Wayne Leman I am working on a dictionary of Ninilchik Russian.

(go to top)

Selected publications

(for a fuller list of publications click here) 

Overview

Recent books, edited collections

(for a fuller list of books and collections click here)

2012 Alexandrov, Ju.I., K. V. Anokhin, B. M. Velichkovsky, A. V. Dubasova, A. A. Kibrik, A. K. Krylov, T. V. Chernigovskaja (eds.) The Fifth International Conference on Cognitive Science. June 18–24, 2012. Abstracts. Vol. 1, 2. Kalinigrad: MAKI. 848 pp.

2012 Kibrik, A.A., T.V.Chernigovskaja, A.V.Dubasova (eds.) Kognitivnye issledovanija [Cognitive Studies]. Vypusk 5. Moscow: Institut psixologii RAN, 2012. 296 pp.

2011 Kibrik, Andrej A. Reference in discourse  Oxford: Oxford University Press. 651 pp.

2011 Bergelson, Mira B., Andrej A. Kibrik, Wayne Leman Ninilchik Russian: The first language of Ninilchik, Alaska. Lulu Press. Preprint edition. 179 pp.

2011 Oranskaja, T.I., Ju.V. Mazurova, A.A.Kibrik, L.I.Kulikov, A.Ju.Rusakov (eds.) Jazyki mira: Novye indoarijskie jazyki [Languages of the World: New Indo-Aryan languages]. Moscow: Academia. 896 pp.

2010 Dem'jankov, V.Z., V.Ja.Porxomovskij, M.E.Alekseev, A.A.Kibrik, A.B.Kudelin, Ju.S.Stepanov (eds.) V prostranstve jazyka i kul'tury: Zvuk, znak, smysl. Sbornik statej v chest' 70-letija V.A.Vinogradova [In the space of language and culture: Sound, sign, sense. Festschrift for V.A.Vinogradov’s 70^th birthday]. Moscow: Jazyki slavjanskix kul’tur. 864 pp.

2010 Kazanskij, N.N., A.A.Kibrik, Ju.B.Korjakov (eds.) Jazyki mira: Drevnie reliktovye jazyki Perednej Azii [Languages of the World: Ancient relict languages of Near East]. Moscow: Academia. 240 pp.

2009 Kibrik, Andrej A., Vera I. Podlesskaya et al. Korpus ustnoj russkoj rechi “Rasskazy o snovidenijax” [Corpus of spoken Russian “Night Dream Stories”]. Moscow: Jazyki slavjanskix kul’tur.

2009 Kibrik, A.A., and V.I.Podlesskaja (red.) Rasskazy o snovidenijax: Korpusnoe issledovanie ustnogo russkogo diskursa [Night Dream Stories: A corpus study of spoken Russian discourse]. Moscow: Jazyki slavjanskix kul’tur. 736 pp.

(for a fuller list of books and collections click here) 
(back to top)

Recent articles, chapters, papers

(for a fuller list of articles, chapters and papers click here) 

2013 In press Peculiarities and origins of the Russian referential system. In: Dik Bakker and Martin Haspelmath (eds.) Languages Across Boundaries: Studies in Memory of Anna Siewierska. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.

2013 In press (Mira B. Bergelson, ---, Marina K. Raskladkina) Russkoe jazykovoe nasledie Aljaski: v poiskax rodnogo jazyka [Russian linguistic heritage of Alaska: Searching for a native language]. Vestnik RGNF, 2013 (1).

2013 In press Discourse semantics and the form of verb predicate in Karachay-Balkar: A corpus-based and experimental study. In: Balthasar Bickel, Lenore Grenoble, David A. Peterson, Alan Timberlake (eds.) What’s where why?  Language typology and historical contingency: A festschrift to honor Johanna Nichols. Amsterdam: Benjamins.

2013 Discourse structure and communicative intentions: A study of Russian TV interviews. In: Majja N. Volodina (Hrsg.) Mediensprache und Medienkommunikation im interdisziplinären und interkulturellen Vergleich. Mannheim, 223–245.

2012 The challenge of non-discreteness: Focal structure in language. In: 45th Annual meeting of the Societas Linguistica Europaea. Book of abstracts. Stockholm: Stockholm University, 3

2012 Non-discrete effects in language, or the Critique of Pure Reason 2. In: Yuri I. Alexandrov et al. (eds.) The Fifth International Conference on Cognitive Science. June 18–24, 2012, Kaliningrad, Russia. Abstracts, Vol. 1. Kaliningrad: MAKI, 81–83.  [pdf]

2012 Prosody and local discourse structure in a polysynthetic language. In: Yuri I. Alexandrov et al. (eds.) The Fifth International Conference on Cognitive Science. June 18–24, 2012, Kaliningrad, Russia. Abstracts, Vol. 1. Kaliningrad: MAKI, 80–81. [pdf]

2012 O vazhnosti lingvisticheskogo izuchenija russkogo zhestovogo jazyka [On the importance of linguistic study of the Russian Sign Language. In:  O.V.Fedorova (red.) Russkij zhestovyj jazyk: Pervaja lingvisticheskaja konferencija. Sbornik statej. Moscow: Buki Vedi, 5–13. [pdf]

2012 What’s in the head of head-marking languages?. In:  Pirkko Suihkonen, Bernard Comrie and Valery Solovyev (eds.) Argument Structure and Grammatical Relations: A Crosslinguistic Typology. Amsterdam:Benjamins, 2012, 229-258. [pdf]

2012 (---, A.S. Linnik, G.B.Dobrov, M.V. Khudyakova) Optimizacija modeli referencial'nogo vybora, osnovannoj na mashinnom obuchenii [Optimization of a model of referential choice, based on machine learning]. In: Computational Linguistics and Intellectual Technologies 11 (18), Volume 1. Conference papers. Moscow: RGGU, 237–246. [pdf]

2012 Toward a typology of verb lexical systems: A case study in Northern Athabaskan. Linguistics, 2012, vol. 50.3, 495-532. [pdf]

2011 Interaction of the verbal, prosodic, and visual components in language understanding. Paper presented at the conference “The Night Whites Language Workshop. St. Petersburg Winter Symposium on Experimental Studies of Speech and Language” (St. Petersburg, 16–17 December 2011). [link]

2011 Referential systems of Slavic, Germanic, and Romance. Paper presented at the conference “Discourse Representation, Comprehension and Production in a Cross-linguistic Perspective” (Oslo, Norway, 6–8 June, 2011). [pdf]

2011 (M.V.Khudyakova,  G.B.Dobrov, ---,  N.V.Loukachevitch) Computational modeling of referential choice: Major and minor referential options. In: Production of Referring Expressions: Bridging the gap between  computational, empirical and theoretical approaches to reference (PRE- CogSci 2011), Boston, July 2011. [pdf]

2011 (N.V.Loukachevitch, G.B.Dobrov, ---, M.V.Khudyakova, A.S.Linnik) Factors of referential choice: Computational modeling. In: Computational Linguistics and Intellectual Technologies: Papers from the Annual International Conference “Dialogue” (2011), 10 (17). Moscow: RGGU, 458-467.  [pdf]

2011 Cognitive discourse analysis: local discourse structure. In: Marcin Grygiel and Laura A. Janda (eds.) Slavic Linguistics in a Cognitive Framework. Frankfurt/New York: Peter Lang Publishing Company, 273-304. [pdf]

2010 Transitivity indicators, historical scenarios, and sundry Dene-Yeniseian notes. In: James Kari and Ben A. Potter (eds.) The Dene-Yeniseian connection. Anthropological papers of the University of Alaska, New Series, Vol. 5 (1-2). Fairbanks: Dept. of Anthropology UAF, 316–320. [pdf]

2010 (M. Bergelson, ---) The Ninilchik variety of Russian: Linguistic heritage of Alaska. In: A. Mustajoki, E. Protassova, N. Vakhtin (eds.) Instrumentarium of Linguistics: Sociolinguistic approaches to non-standard Russian (Slavica Helsingiensia 40). Helsinki: Helsinki University Press, , 299-313. [pdf]

2010 (---, V.I.Podlesskaya) Vstavochnye konstrukcii v ustnom diskurse. In: V.Z.Dem'jankov, V.Ja.Porxomovskij (red.) V prostranstve jazyka i kul'tury: Zvuk, znak, smysl. Sbornik statej v chest' 70-letija V.A.Vinogradova. Moscow: Jazyki slavjanskix kul’tur, 87-99. [pdf]

2010 Russian influence upon the culture of an interior Alaskan community. Paper presented at the 2010 Iinternational Conference on Russian America. [pdf]

2010 (M. Bergelson, ---) Alaskan Russian: The story of the Ninilchik community as told by its language. Paper presented at the 2010 Iinternational Conference on Russian America. [pdf]

2010 (A.L.Zverev, ---) Dimensional directionals in Upper Kuskokwim Athabaskan: Orientation in physical and cognitive space. In: The Fourth International Conference on Cognitive Science. Abstracts, Vol. 1. Tomsk: Tomskij gosudarstvennyj universitet, 112-115. [pdf]

2010 Andrej A. Kibrik, Grigoriy B. Dobrov, Natalia V. Loukachevitch, Dmitrij A. Zalmanov. Referential choice as a probabilistic multi-factorial process. In: The Fourth International Conference on Cognitive Science. Abstracts, Vol. 1. Tomsk: Tomskij gosudarstvennyj universitet, 56-57. [pdf]

2010 (---. G.B.Dobrov, D.A.Zalmanov, A.S.Linnik, N.V.Loukachevitch) Referential choice as a probabilistic multi-factorial process. In: Computational Linguistics and Intellectual Technologies: Papers from the Annual International Conference “Dialogue” 8 (15). M.: RGGU, 173-180. [pdf]

2010 Kri jazyk [Cree language]. In: Bol'shaja rossijskaja ènciklopedija. Moscow: Bol'shaja rossijskaja ènciklopedija, Vol. 16, 10. [pdf]

2010 Mul'timodal'naja lingvistika [Multimodal linguistics]. In: Yuri I. Alexandrov, Valery D. Solovyev (eds.) Kognitivnye issledovanija – IV. Moscow: IP RAN, 2010, 134-152. [pdf]

2009 Encoding directions in Upper Kuskokwim Athabaskan: A case study in field ethnolinguistics. In: III Mezhdunarodnaja konferencija po polevoj lingvistike, Moscow, October 2009. Trudy i materialy. Moscow: Tezaurus, 20–25. [pdf]

2009 Basics of referential systems: Sorting things out. In: A.L.Devi, A. Branco, and R. Mitkov (eds.) Proceedings of the 7th Discourse Anaphora and Anaphor Resoluction Colloquium (DAARC 2009, Goa, India, November 2009). Chennai: AU-KBG Research Center, 1–8. [pdf]

2009 (V.I. Podlesskaya, ---) Diskursivnye markery v strukture ustnogo rasskaza: opyt korpusnogo issledovanija [Discourse markers in the structure of spoken stories: An attempt for a corpus study]. In: Computational Linguistics and Intellectual Technologies: Papers from the Annual International Conference “Dialogue” 8 (15). Moscow: RGGU, 390–395. [link]

2009 (---, S.V.Kodzasov, M.V.Khudyakova) Prosodicheskaja transkripcija: urovni detalizacii [Prosodic transcription: Levels of detail]. In: Computational Linguistics and Intellectual Technologies: Papers from the Annual International Conference “Dialogue” 8 (15). Moscow: RGGU, 143–148. [link]

2009 Multiple sections in the monograph: A.A.Kibrik, V.I.Podlesskaja (red.) Rasskazy o snovidenijax: Korpusnoe issledovanie ustnogo russkogo diskursa [Night Dream Stories: A corpus study of spoken Russian discourse]. Moscow: Jazyki slavjanskix kul’tur.

2009 Modus, zhanr i drugie parametry klassifikacii diskursov [Mode, genre, and other parameters of discourse classification]. Voprosy jazykoznanija, 2009, 2, 3–21. [pdf]

(for a fuller list of articles, chapters and papers click here)
(back to top)

Selected talks 
 

Recent talks

(for a fuller list click here)

Andrej A. Kibrik. Agreement in cognition, discourse, and syntax. Paper presented at the workshop “Agreement in Discourse”. University of Bamberg, Germany, February 2013. [ppt]

Andrej A. Kibrik. Vzaimodejstvie verbal'nogo, prosodicheskogo i vizual'nogo kanalov v ponimanii rechi [Interaction of the verbal, prosodic, and visual channels in language understanding]. Paper presented at the conference “Ponimanie v kommunikacii”, Yaroslavl’, November 2012. [ppt]

Andrej A. Kibrik. The challenge of non-discreteness: Focal structure in language. Plenary talk presented at the 45th Annual Meeting of the Societas Linguistica Europaea. Stockholm University, 29 August - 1 September 2012. [ppt]

Andrej A. Kibrik. Origins of the Russian referential system: Alternative scenarios. Paper presented at the 45th Annual Meeting of the Societas Linguistica Europaea. Stockholm University, 29 August - 1 September 2012. [ppt]

Andrej A. Kibrik. Native Periphery of Russian America: Upper Kuskokwim Athabaskans. Paper presented at the Russian America conference. Mariehamn, Åland islands, August 2012. [ppt]

Andrej A. Kibrik. Non-discrete effects in language, or the Critique of Pure Reason 2. Paper presented at the Fifth International Conference on Cognitive Science, Immanuel Kant Federal University, Kaliningrad, June 2012. [ppt]

Andrej A. Kibrik. Qualitative morphological complexity: The case of Athabaskan. Paper presented at the workshop “Growth and Decline of Morphological Complexity”. EVA MPG, Leipzig, April 27, 2012. [ppt]

Andrej A. Kibrik. Space in Alaska: Cognitive variations on Upper Kuskokwim Athabaskan. Paper presented at the conference “Time and Space in St. Petersburg”. March 29, 2012. [ppt]

Andrej A. Kibrik. “Languages of the World” (Jazyki mira): A longitudinal project. Paper presented at the international colloquium “Dialectes décisifs, langues prototypiques”. Paris, Université Sorbonne Nouvelle – Paris 3, February 29, 2012. [ppt]

(for a fuller list click here)
(back to top)

Academic teaching 
 

Courses taught:
  

Languages of the world and language areas (Department of Theoretical and Applied Linguistics, Moscow State University)

Discourse (Department of Theoretical and Applied Linguistics, Moscow State University)

Introduction to Athabaskan languages (Department of Theoretical and Applied Linguistics, Moscow State University, spring 2012)

(together with Olga V. Fedorova and Maria V. Khudyakova) Empirical studies in referential choice (Department of Theoretical and Applied Linguistics, Moscow State University, 2011)

Cognitive linguistics and cognitive discourse analysis (Bauman Moscow State Technical University, 2010)

Cognitive discourse analysis (Saint-Petersburg State University, 2009; Tambov University, 2008; Summer psychology school MSU, 2006; Moscow Seminar on Cognitive Science, 2005)

(together with Vera I. Podlesskaya) Spoken discourse and discourse transcription (Department of Theoretical and Applied Linguistics, Moscow State University, 2004–2008)

Discourse (part of a general course for the Philological Faculty, Moscow State University, 2004–2006)

Languages of the World (Russian State University for the Humanities, 1999)

Syntax (Department of Finno-Ugric Philology, Moscow State University, 1993)
 

Lectures on various topics in the universities of Kazan, Tomsk, Odessa, Stockholm, Zurich, Hamburg, University of Oregon (Eugene), Emory University (Atlanta), State University of New York (Buffalo), University of Hawaii (Honolulu), University of Alaska (Anchorage, Fairbanks), Free University of Berlin, Dresden Polytechnical University, University of Texas (San Antonio), University of California (Berkeley), etc.

Dissertations supervised:

M.A. theses supervised:

(back to top)

Science Index