Bulletin

Issue: September 2004

People

Sino-Tibetan specialist to Chair in Linguistics

Dr Randy LaPolla, formerly of the City University of Hong Kong, has been appointed to the Chair of Linguistics at La Trobe University. He replaces Professor Barry Blake who has retired.

Two years ago, Professor LaPolla spent six months at La Trobe as Visiting Professor at the Research Centre for Linguistic Typology, and found his stay there extremely pleasant and productive. 'I resolved then that if I ever had the opportunity to come back, I would,' he says.

Professor LaPolla brings with him a vast knowledge of Sino-Tibetan languages, adding to the University's existing strengths in this field in the form of the expertise of Drs David Bradley and Hilary Chappell.

Born and raised in Long Island, New York, Professor LaPolla received a BA in Asian Studies from the State University of New York at Stony Brook in 1978 and an MA in Applied Linguistics (TESOL) from the same university in 1980.

He then lived in China for three years, teaching for one year in Changsha and Shanghai, and studying for two years in the Linguistics Section of the Chinese Department of Peking University. He then went to the University of California, Berkeley, where he received an MA and in 1990, a PhD in Linguistics.

After graduation he was given a position at the Institute of History and Philology of the Academia Sinica in Taiwan - the first westerner so appointed - and remained there for six years, also teaching part-time at Tsing Hua University as Adjunct Associate Professor for two years.

In 1996 he moved to City University of Hong Kong, where he was an Associate Professor mainly working on the recording and analysis, including comparative studies, of Sino-Tibetan languages. This involved attempting to answer the question of why the languages of this language family are the way they are.

A general interest in typology informs this work from which he has also developed certain answers to more general theoretical questions, such as the nature of language and its function in communication.

He says an attraction of La Trobe was the opportunity to be heavily engaged in teaching as well as research. 'My work at the Academia Sinica was purely research but I prefer to combine research with teaching. I find that teaching broadens your view, as students often bring up questions which force you to venture into areas about which you are not all that clear.'

'I appreciate the chance of working with both students and colleagues because the students and staff form a critical mass with which you can interact in a productive way.'

On a personal level Professor LaPolla will continue his interest in Tai Chi and other internal martial arts, and also his love of nature. 'In this respect, I am going to enjoy this beautiful campus,' he added.

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