I am a linguist interested in syntax and phonology. My work relies on cross-linguistic insight, in particular from Mayan languages, Bantu languages, and Spanish. Topics I’ve explored include the identity condition on ellipsis, (optional) agreement, sibilant harmony, linearization, syntactic ergativity, and information structure.
I am also committed to language reclamation and documentation. I have worked on projects in these areas in my home country, Guatemala (Xinka, Kaqchikel, Tz’utujil), and California (Rumsen).
Starting on July 1, 2023, I will be Assistant Professor in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at UCLA. I am currently a Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fellow in the American Indian Studies Center, mentored by Harold Torrence.
I received my PhD in Linguistics at the University of Maryland, College Park (UMD) in 2021, under the direction of Maria Polinsky and Omer Preminger. 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 am one of the co-organizers for Form and Analysis in Mayan Linguistics (FAMLi) VII, which will take place at UNAM in Mexico City (Feb. 22-23, 2024). Call for papers and more details soon!
- I am organizing a discussion panel on the topic of heritage speakers of indigenous languages of the Americas at the Fourteenth Heritage Language Research Institute at UCLA (Jun 5-8, 2023). Invited speakers are:
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- Jaime Pérez González (UC Santa Barbara)
- Cynthia Vázquez (UCLA)
- Ivonne Heinze-Balcazar (Cal State Dominguez Hills).
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- Justin Royer and I will present “Lo que ves no es lo que hay: una perspectiva maya sobre la anáfora de complemento nulo” (“What you see is not what you get: a Mayan perspective on null complement anaphora“) at CILLA X (UT Austin).
- I am an invited speaker at the upcoming workshop “Current Issues in Comparative Syntax 2: Boundaries of Ellipsis Mismatch“, organized by Tsuda University (Japan).
- I will be giving an invited talk at UCLA in the Culture, Power, and Social Change seminar series in the Department of Anthropology.
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 