School of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics, China and Inner Asia Section & Department of Linguistics

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Roles
School of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics Reader in Tibetan and Historical Linguistics Centre of Buddhist Studies Member
Department
School of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics, China and Inner Asia Section & Department of Linguistics
Qualifications
AB, AM, PhD (Harvard)
Building
Russell Square: College Buildings
Office
456
Email address
nh36@soas.ac.uk
Telephone number
+44 (0)20 7898 4512

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Nathan W. Hill was educated at the Catlin Gabel School and Harvard University. 

He has also studied for shorter periods in France, Nepal, Tibet and Japan. He came to SOAS in 2008 after teaching at Harvard University and Universität Tübingen. At SOAS he teaches courses in historical linguistics and well as Tibetan language and history. He convenes Tibetan Studies at SOAS. 

Nathan is able to supervise PhD projects on Tibetan literature and history in the Department of China and Inner Asia, as well as PhD projects on historical, descriptive and corpus linguistics, in particular with reference to Tibetan or other Tibeto-Burman/Sino-Tibetan languages, in the Department of Linguistics.

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Nathan W. Hill's research focuses on Tibetan literature and Tibeto-Burman/Sino-Tibetan historical linguistics. In particular he has published on Old Tibetan descriptive linguistics, Tibetan corpus linguistics, Tibeto-Burman reconstruction and comparative linguistics, and the typology of evidential systems. 

Current research

Nathan W. Hill is currently one of three principal investigators on Beyond Boundaries: Religion, Region, Language and the State, a six-year international research collaboration jointly led by SOAS, the British Museum, and the British Library, funded by the European Research Council. 

He was co-investigator on Tibetan in Digital Communication: Corpus Linguistics and Lexicography (2012-2015), a research project led by principal investigator Dr Ulrich Pagel (Department of Religions and Philosophies) and funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council.

Conference organisation

In addition to convening Tibetan Studies at SOAS, Nathan W. Hill organises the ERC-funded Asia Beyond Boundaries workshops. He has also organised the Circle of Tibetan and Himalayan Studies lecture series (2010-2015) as well as several conferences:

  • Recent Advances in Comparative Linguistic Reconstruction. SOAS. 26-27 March 2019.
  • Data Management in Asian Humanities and Social Sciences. SOAS. 13-14 November 2017. 
  • From Gandhāra to Gupta. The Courtauld Institute of Art. 12-13 May 2017.
  • Recent Advances in Tangut Studies. SOAS. 28 February 2017.
  • Recent Advances in Old Chinese Historical Phonology. SOAS. 5-6 November 2015.
  • A Day of Tangut Studies: A celebration of language and culture in China's Xixia Dynasty. SOAS. 25 April 2013.
  • Bon, Shangshung, and Early Tibet. SOAS. 9-10 September 2011. 
  • Pure Earths? The environmental challenges facing Tibet in the twenty-first century. SOAS. 15 April 2011. 
  • 16th Himalayan Languages Symposium. SOAS. 2-5 September 2010. 
  • Medieval Tibeto-Burman Languages Symposium V. SOAS. 1 September 2010. 
  • Re-imagining Tibet: Transnational identities and representations. SOAS. 12 December 2009. 
  • Medieval Tibeto-Burman Languages Symposium IV. SOAS. 16 September 2008.

Editorial roles

Affiliations

  • Member, International Advisory Board for The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Centre for Buddhist Art and Conservation at The Courtauld Institute of Art (2012-2016).
  • Editorial board member, Old Tibetan Documents Online, (2006-).

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Name Title
Mr Tsering Samdrup Cairangsanzhou Expressing Politeness in Old Tibetan: Investigation based on three Dunhuang Tibetan texts
Philippe Antoine Martinez

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Email
nh36@soas.ac.uk
Telephone
+44 (0)20 7898 4512

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