I’m a linguist interested in syntax and phonology. I take a cross-linguistic approach, focusing on Mayan languages, Spanish, and Bantu languages. Topics I’ve worked on include the identity condition on ellipsis, null complement anaphora, (optional) agreement, sibilant harmony, linearization, syntactic ergativity, and information structure.
Language reclamation and documentation are also a key part of my work. I have contributed to these areas in Guatemala (Xinka, Kaqchikel, Tz’utujil) and in California (Rumsen).
I’m an Assistant Professor in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at UCLA. I was previously a Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fellow in the American Indian Studies Center.
I received my PhD in Linguistics at the University of Maryland, College Park. My dissertation “Identity Conditions on Ellipsis” is available here.
The wonderful members of my UMD cohort (collectively known as SMAART) were Sigwan Thivierge, Mina Hirzel, Anouk Dieuleveut, Aaron Doliana, and Tyler Knowlton.
Latest news!
- I was a co-organizer for Form and Analysis in Mayan Linguistics (FAMLi) VII at UNAM in Mexico City (Feb. 22-23, 2024). You can find a video of the entire conference here: Day 1, Day 2.
- New paper submitted to Linguistic Inquiry with Justin Royer: “Null Complement Anaphora cannot involve transitivity alternations: A novel argument from Mayan“. [link]
- Justin Royer, Neper García, Pedro Gómez, and I were awarded a grant by the Explorers Club for the project “Documenting and analyzing silence in Chuj (Mayan): A community-based approach“.
- Recent and upcoming invited talks!
- Roundtable participant for Experimental work and fieldwork on understudied and heritage languages at Mayfest 2024 at the University of Maryland. This year’s event honors Masha with the theme “The Science of Linguistic Diversity” (May 3-4)
- Panel on Language and Social Justice at the 15th Heritage Language Institute, UC Irvine (June 10-13)
- I gave the plenary “The Syntax of What’s Left Unsaid: A View on Silence from Mayan” at the 27th Workshop on the Structure and Constituency of the Languages of the Americas (WSCLA), University of Toronto (Apr. 26-28)
Contact me:
ranero [at] ucla [dot] edu
I respectfully acknowledge that the Tongva peoples are the traditional caretakers of the land on which UCLA is situated. To learn about whose land you’re on, go here.
Rodrigo Ranero 