Professor Ghil‘ad Zuckermann

Academic Level E

College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences

place Humanities
GPO Box 2100, Adelaide 5001, South Australia

Professor Ghil'ad Zuckermann, D.Phil. (Oxford), Ph.D. (Cambridge) (titular), is listed among Australia's top 30 Living Legends of Research (2024) by The Australian newspaper.

In 2023 Prof. Zuckermann was awarded the Rubinlicht Prize for his contribution to Yiddish scholarship.

Zuckermann is the author of Revivalistics: From the Genesis of Israeli to Language Reclamation in Australia and Beyond (Oxford University Press, New York, 2020, 352 pages), the revolutionary bestseller Israelit Safa Yafa (Israeli - A Beautiful Language) (Am Oved, Tel Aviv, 2008, 256 pages), Language Contact and Lexical Enrichment in Israeli Hebrew (Palgrave Macmillan, 2003, 304 pages) and -- as 诸葛漫 (= Ghil‘ad Zuckermann): 多源造词研究 (A Study of Multisourced Neologization) (East China Normal University Press, Shanghai, 2021, 420 pages).

He has held 5-year competitive fellowships from both the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) (2017-2021) and the Australian Research Council (ARC) (2007-2011).

Zuckermann is a leading international expert in 10 fields:

(1) Revivalistics, a new global, comparative, trans-disciplinary field of enquiry surrounding language reclamation (e.g. Hebrew, Barngarla Aboriginal language of South Australia, Bayoongoo Aboriginal language of Western Australia), revitalization (e.g. Adnyamathanha of South Australia) and reinvigoration (e.g. Irish, Welsh);

(2) Language in culture and society (including nationhood, religion, politics and identity), Cross-Cultural Communication;

(3) English as the World's Language;

(4) Israel and Jewish Studies (including Jewish languages);

(5) Language, wellbeing and health (including for Indigenous and minority people);

(6) Lexicology, lexicography and forensic linguistics (including trademarks, brand names and Intellectual Property - acting as Expert Witness in courts all over the globe);

(7) Contact linguistics, linguistic evolution;

(8) Lexical expansion and camouflaged borrowing (including phono-semantic matching);

(9) Multiple causation, cross-fertilization and horizontal gene transfer in languages;

(10) Historical linguistics

Hebrew name: גלעד צוקרמן

Chinese name: 诸葛漫

Japanese name: ギラード・ツッカーマン

Qualifications

D.Phil. (Oxon.), University of Oxford, England, United Kingdom, conferred on 25 November 2000.

Ph.D. (Cantab.) (titular), University of Cambridge, England, United Kingdom, conferred on 13 December 2003.

M.A. (summa cum laude), Tel Aviv University, Israel, 1997.

I.B., United World College of the Adriatic (Collegio del Mondo Unito dell'Adriatico), Duino, Trieste, Italy, 1989.

Professor Zuckermann is a hyperpolyglot, fluent in a plethora of languages.

Leadership: Professor Zuckermann has led various organizations such as the Australian Association for Jewish Studies (AAJS), Australasian Association of Lexicography (AustraLex) and Oxford University L'Chaim Society.

Grants: Professor Zuckermann has received millions of dollars in research fellowships and grants, including two distinct 5-year ones from both the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) (2017-2021) and the Australian Research Council (ARC) (2007-2011).

Publications: Professor Zuckermann has published hundreds of peer-reviewed articles and bestseller books including by Oxford University Press and Palgrave Macmillan.

Teaching/Supervision: Professor Zuckermann has taught dozens of courses in linguistics and the Humanities. He has supervised dozens of postdoctoral fellows, Ph.D. and M.A. students.

LEARNED SOCIETIES

Australian Association for Jewish Studies (AAJS) (Elected President thrice 2017-23)

Australasian Association for Lexicography (AUSTRALEX) (Elected President, 2013-15)

Academy of Oriental Scholars (Shanghai) (Elected Fellow)

Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS) (Elected Fellow)

Foundations for Endangered Languages (FEL) (Elected Board Member)

Institute for Communication in Health Care, Australian National University (Elected Member)

The International Society for the Interdisciplinary Study of Symmetry (Elected Board Member)

European Association for Jewish Studies (EAJS) (Elected Member)

Centre for Research on Language Change (CRLC)

Linguistic Society of America (LSA)

The Philological Society

Society of Biblical Literature (SBL)

International Pragmatics Association (IPrA)

Society for Pidgin and Creole Linguistics (SPCL)

Australian Linguistic Society (ALS)

National Association of Professors of Hebrew (NAPH)

Association Internationale de Linguistique Appliquée (AILA)

Association for Jewish Studies (AJS)

Honours, awards and grants
  • 2024 Listed among Australia's top 30 Living Legends of Research (2024) by The Australian newspaper.
  • 2023 Awarded the Rubinlicht Prize for contribution to Yiddish scholarship.
  • 2017-21 National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Project Grant APP1129796 (with Prof. Alex Brown): Examining the impact of language reclamation on social and emotional well being among the Barngarla. (FIVE YEARS)
  • 2007-11 Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Fellowship DP0770414: Language Revival in the Middle East: The Genesis of Israeli ('Modern Hebrew') – Lessons for the Revival of No-Longer Spoken Australian Languages. (FIVE YEARS)
  • 2017-23 President (elected three consecutive times), Australian Association for Jewish Studies (AAJS).
  • 2014 Elected Fellow, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS).
  • 2013-present Barngarla Aboriginal Language Reclamation, Aboriginal Language Support (ILS/ILA), Australian Government (Project Manager).
  • 2022-4 Bayoongoo Aboriginal Language Reclamation (Western Australia), First Languages Australia.
  • 2013-15 Traditional Cultural Expressions in Aboriginal Australia and Torres Straits Islands, Ministry for the Arts, Attorney-General’s Department, Australian Government (Project Manager).
  • 2013-15 Visiting Professorial Scientist, Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel.
  • 2013-15 Elected President, Australasian Association for Lexicography (AUSTRALEX).
  • 2012-13 Special Guest, Israel Institute for Advanced Studies, Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
  • 2011 Oriental Scholar Distinguished Professorial Fellow, Shanghai, China.
  • 2010 Project 211 Distinguished Professorial Fellowship, China.
  • 2002 British Academy Research Grant.
  • 2000-1 Memorial Foundation of Jewish Culture Postdoctoral Fellowship (New York).
  • 2001 Dorot Postdoctoral Fellowship.
  • 1997-2000 Scatcherd European Scholarship, University of Oxford.
  • 1997-2000 Denise Skinner Graduate Scholarship, St Hugh’s College, Oxford.
  • 1997-2000 Memorial Foundation of Jewish Culture Doctoral Scholarship (New York).
  • 1997-8 Harold Hyam Wingate Scholarship (London).
  • 1996-7 British Chevening Scholarship, British Foreign Office.
  • 1993-7 Scholarship at the Interdisciplinary Programme for Fostering Excellence (later known as the Adi Lautman Interdisciplinary Programme for Outstanding Students), Tel Aviv University.

Nicknames: 'Sir Galahad' (Oxford), 'Giladiator' (UT Austin), 'Zucchi' / 'Zucky' (UWC Adriatic)

Key responsibilities

SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE MEMBERSHIP:

2014-present Elected President thrice (February 2017 - 2023), Vice-President (2014-2017), Australian Association for Jewish Studies (AAJS)

2004-present Elected President (2013-2015), Vice-President (2011-13), Australasian Association for Lexicography (AUSTRALEX)

2014 Elected Fellow, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS), Canberra.

2011 Elected Fellow, Academy of Oriental Scholars, Shanghai.

2012-present Elected Board Member, Foundation for Endangered Languages (FEL).

2014-present Elected Board Member, Leyvik House, The Israeli Center for Yiddish Culture, Tel Aviv.

2019-present Elected Board Member, Online Museum of Jewish Theatre (https://www.jewish-theatre.com/he/about).

2014-present Advisor, International Academic Board, The Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy (ISGAP).

2021-present Advisory Board Member, Speech Pathology, The University of Adelaide.

2014 Rapporteur, UNESCO International Conference on Language (e.g. Suzhou, China, 5-6 June 2014).

Elected Member, Institute for Communication in Health Care (ICH), Australian National University.

Elected Board Member, The International Society for the Interdisciplinary Study of Symmetry.

CONSULTANCY (selection):

1998-present Expert Witness / Consultant in (corpus) lexicography, trademark analysis, branding, Intellectual Property, translation, discourse, style and lexical choice analysis, cross-cultural communication, plagiarism and any other aspect of forensic linguistics – in court cases all over the globe, e.g. USA, UK, Philippines, Singapore and Australia.

1998-present Consultant, Oxford English Dictionary (OED): Introduced various new words (e.g. bogan, mondegreen, cameltoe, graffiti, gelati) and etymologies (e.g. matres lectionis).

2016-present Partner, Centre for Australian Studies, Universität zu Köln.

2007-present Consultant, Yale University Press (YUP).

2002-present Consultant, Oxford University Press (OUP).

2009-present Consultant, Cambridge University Press (CUP).

2020-21 Consultant, Minority Rights Group International: evaluating UNESCO's efforts regarding the International Year of Indigenous Languages 2019.

2017-20 Consultant, CJZ Film Production Company, Australia.

2009-14 Internationalization Adviser, Development Office, Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

2005-11 Consultant, Sue and Leonard Miller Center for Contemporary Judaic Studies, University of Miami.

Teaching interests

Professor Ghil'ad Zuckermann is a born lecturer and sought-after keynoter.

His teaching interests include Linguistics, Revivalistics (language reclamation, revitalization and reinvigoration), Aboriginal Languages, Jewish Languages, English as a Global Language and Israeli (Reclaimed Hebrew).

Professor Zuckermann has created, convened and taught a plethora of undergraduate and postgraduate courses, for example the following:

edX MOOC (Massive Open Online Course): Language Revival: Securing the Future of Endangered Languages

The Wonder of Language: an intro to Linguistics

Introduction to Language in Culture and Society

Revivalistics, Cross-Fertilization & Wellbeing

Languages in the 21st Century: Cultural Contact and New Words

Languages in a Global Society

Language Planning

Cross Cultural Communication (CCC)

Semantics

Revival Linguistics

Enquiring Mind

Morphology and Syntax

Phonology and Phonetics

Language and Meaning

Foundations of Linguistics

Language and Ethnography of Communication

Adelaide Linguistics Research Colloquium

Critical Thinking and Academic Writing: How to be both Original and Scholarly

Contact Linguistics

Historical Linguistics

Lexical Expansion: Camouflaged Borrowing

Multiple Causation

Linguistic Research Writing

Arabic

Psychometric Testing

SUPERVISION (selection)

Prof. Zuckermann has been Postdoctoral Supervisor e.g. of the following:

  •  Professor CHEN Yan (Yancheng Teachers University)
  •  Professor YAO Chunlin (Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing)
  •  Dr XU Jia Phoebe (Shanghai International Studies University, Shanghai)
  •  Professor JIN Zhiru (Jilin Normal University)

Prof. Zuckermann has been Ph.D. Supervisor e.g. of the following:

  • Dr Afifa Eve KHEIR FERRO: Code Mixing in Arabic and Israeli (Ph.D. completed successfully, with distinction)
  • Dr YANG Jie (Jessica): Language Planning in China and in Australia (Ph.D. completed successfully)
  • Dr Penelope CASHMAN: Phonetics Applied to Music Pedagogy (Ph.D. completed successfully, with distinction)
  • Dr Yosep B. KROON: The Grammar of Solor – Lamaholot, an Endangered Language of Flores, Eastern Indonesia (Ph.D. completed successfully)
  • Dr Nga Thuy NGUYEN: Language Contact and Lexical Expansion in Vietnamese (Ph.D. completed successfully)

Supervisory interests
Aboriginal health
Aboriginal languages
English as a foreign language
Hebrew
Linguistics
Sociolinguistics
Wellbeing
Expert for media contact
Aboriginal issues
China
Contemporary Cultural & Political Issues
Culture
Dialects
Education - Aboriginal
English language
Ethnic affairs/Mutliculturalism
Foreign countries and people
Humour
Indigenous Australia
International relations
Italy
Leadership
Linguistics
Memory
Migration
Pacific Islands
Socio-linguistics
South-East Asia
Translations
United Kingdom
Barngarla Aboriginal language
Cross-cultural communication
Cultural contact as manifested in language
English as a global language
Etymology
Forensic linguistics
Hebrew
How new words emerge
Indigenous wellbeing
Israel
Jewish languages
Language revival
Language, society, identity, nationhood and religion
Trademarks
Yiddish
Available for contact via
Or contact the media team
+61 8 82012092
0427 398 713
Researcher
Media expert
Media expertise
  • Aboriginal issues
  • China
  • Contemporary Cultural & Political Issues
  • Culture
  • Dialects
  • Education - Aboriginal
  • English language
  • Ethnic affairs/Mutliculturalism
  • Foreign countries and people
  • Humour
  • Indigenous Australia
  • International relations
  • Italy
  • Leadership
  • Linguistics
  • Memory
  • Migration
  • Pacific Islands
  • Socio-linguistics
  • South-East Asia
  • Translations
  • United Kingdom
Interests
  • Barngarla Aboriginal language
  • Cross-cultural communication
  • Cultural contact as manifested in language
  • English as a global language
  • Etymology
  • Forensic linguistics
  • Hebrew
  • How new words emerge
  • Indigenous wellbeing
  • Israel
  • Jewish languages
  • Language revival
  • Language, society, identity, nationhood and religion
  • Trademarks
  • Yiddish
Further information

FIELD RESEARCH

Chair Professor Zuckermann has conducted field research in 100 countries all over the globe, for example in most of the 34 province-level administrative divisions of China, in every state of the USA except Alaska (i.e. 49 states), all over the Middle East, Europe (e.g. Italy and Germany), Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, Myanmar (Burma), Canada, Mauritius, Réunion, Central America (e.g. Cuba, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic), South Africa, Namibia, India, Pacific Ocean (e.g. Fiji, Norfolk Island, Cook Islands, New Caledonia)…

RESEARCH GRANTS

National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Project Grant (APP1129796): Examining the Impact of Language Reclamation on Social and Emotional Wellbeing among the Barngarla ($1,111,633) (Chief Investigator, with Alex Brown, 5 years, 2017-2021).

Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Australian Research Fellowship (DP0770414): Language Revival and Cultural Hybridity in the Middle East: The Genesis of Israeli ('Modern Hebrew') – Lessons for the Revival of No‑Longer Spoken Australian Languages ($585,000) (Sole Chief Investigator, 5 years, 2007-2021).

Barngarla Aboriginal Language Reclamation, Aboriginal Language Support (ILS/ILA), Ministry for the Arts, Attorney-General’s Department, Australian Government (Project Manager).

Creating Multimodal Learning Resources for Iaai (Ouvéa Island), a Kanak Language of New Caledonia, French Government (Contributor).

Bayoongoo (Western Australia) Aboriginal Language Reclamation through Songs, First Languages Australia (Project Manager).

Traditional Cultural Expressions in Aboriginal Australia and Torres Straits Islands, Ministry for the Arts, Attorney-General’s Department, Australian Government (Project Manager).

Internationalization of China’s Linguistics, Key Research Project of Excellence, Shanghai International Studies University. (Chief Investigator).

Mobile Language Team, Aboriginal Language Support (ILS), Ministry for the Arts, Attorney-General’s Department, Australian Government ($1,050,000) (Collaborator).

Barngarla Aboriginal Language Reclamation, Aboriginal Language Support (ILS), Office For The Arts (OFTA), Department of Regional Australia, Local Government, Arts and Sports, Australian Government (Project Manager).

Shanghai ‘Oriental Scholar’ Professorial Fellowship.

Project 211 Fellowship, Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China.

Barngarla place names and regions in South Australia (2022) (pdf)

Covers of Prof. Zuckermann's Books (pdf)

Mnemonics, Zuckermann, 2011, Word Ways (pdf)

Oxbridge Paradox (Pair o' Docs): D.Phil. (Oxon.) and Ph.D. (Cantab.) Transcripts (pdf)

Stephen Fry on Ghil'ad Zuckermann (audio) (m4a)

Zuckermann's 2007 Yiddish article: ‘di isróeldike shprakh: hebréish lebt víder, yídish lebt váyter’ (The Israeli Language: Hebrew Revived, Yiddish Survived). Afn Shvel (pdf)

Zuckermann's 2008 Yiddish article: ‘farmaskírte antláyung: yídishe léksishe hashpóe af ivrít’, Yerusholaimer Almanakh (pdf)

Zuckermann, 2015, Engaging – A Guide to Interacting Respectfully and Reciprocally with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People, and their Arts Practices and Intellectual Property. (pdf)