Dr Paul Sidwell

I am a Canberra based researcher and consultant in linguistics, specializing in Southeast Asian languages and language history, forensic linguistics, and applied research for security and law-enforcement (via the business Language Intelligence email language.intel@gmail.com). 2013 to 2016 I was an Australian Research Council Future Fellow at the Australian National University (College of Asia and the Pacific). I specialize in Austroasiatic linguistics, especially the Katuic, Bahnaric, Palaungic & Nicobarese branches, but these days my research is broader and extends to insular Southeast Asia.

My most recent significant contribution was to edit and write for (with Mathias Jenny) the Brill Handbook of Austroasiatic Languages.

My main research aim is to update/revise the reconstruction of proto-Austroasiatic, the hypothetical ancestor of the Austroasiatic phylum. My May 18 2018 presentation to SEALS28 regarding AA cultural lexicon can been downloaded here, and the slides for my talk on the state of AA Studies given at National Tsing Hua University is here.

I also have active projects focusing on the history of specific languages branches: Khasian, Pearic, Nicobarese, Khmuic, which will yield publications in the near future. I have also been recently working on Austronesian language Acehnese, which shows signs of influence from Austroasiatic.

Professional appointments/projects

  • 2017 onward: Partner, Language Intelligence.
  • 2017-2018: Honorary Lecturer, Australian National University.
  • 2016: Consulting Linguist, Center for Research in Computational Linguistics (Bangkok), DARPA/LORELEI Project.
  • 2012–2016: ARC Future Fellow, Australian National University, Austroasiatic Lexicon Project.
  • 2007–2011: Center for Research in Computational Linguistics (Bangkok), Director of Mon-Khmer Language Project.
  • 2001–2004: ANU, Australian Research Council Postdoctoral Research Fellow
  • 2005–2007: ANU Visiting Research Fellow, funded by Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig
  • 2001: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Collaborating Scientist

Active projects / Research resources/tools

Boards / Committees / Associations

orcid.org/0000-0002-9162-5668