Dr. Maria Flaksman

• 2021-2024 Ludwig-Maximilian University of Munich (Dept. of English Philology, Historical Linguistics and Medieval Literature), Postdoc
• 2019-2021 Friedrich-Schiller University Jena (Dept. of Historical-Comparative Linguistics, Indo-European languages), Postdoc
• 2014-2017 St. Petersburg Institute of Foreign Languages (Dept. of English Philology), Lecturer
• 2010-2019 St. Petersburg Electrotechnical University (Faculty of Humanities, Foreign Languages Dept.), 2010- Assistant, 2015- Senior Lecturer, 2016-19 Associate Professor

• 2019-2021 Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellowship (project ‘Evolution of imitative lexicons: a historical-comparative analysis of onomatopoeia in Germanic languages’)
• 2019 Russian Fundamental Research Fund research grant (Psychology, Psycholinguistics), project ‘Psycho-physiological indicators of perception of sound-imitative words in native and non-native languages’ (Russia)
• 2017-2018 Icelandic Governmental Scholarship (Iceland)
• 2012-2013 German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) scholarship ‘Immanuel Kant’. Project ‘English imitative vocabulary with atypical phonetic development’ (Germany)
• 2009 Georgius-Agricola-Stipendium des Freistaates Sachsen (Germany)

PhD thesis

• Flaksman, M. (2015). Diachronic development of English imitative vocabulary [in Russian]. PhD dissertation. University of St. Petersburg. 586 pp.

Books

• Flaksman, Maria (2024). An Etymological Dictionary of English Imitative Words [MUSE: Munich Studies in English series]. Munich: Peter Lang, 602 pp. (https://www.peterlang.com/document/1360165)
• Flaksman, M.A., Tkacheva, L.O., Sedelkina, Y.G., Lavitskaya, Y.V., et al. (2022) Phonosemantics: An Interdisciplinary Approach [in Russian] Мoscow: Mir Nauki, 229 pp. Open Access: izd-mn.com/PDF/69MNNPM22.pdf  
• Flaksman, M. (2015). English Iconic Lexicon in Synchrony and Diachrony [in Russian]. St. Petersburg. SPbSEU ‘LETI’ Univ. Press. 199 pp.

Peer-reviewed journals and book chapters

• Flaksman, Maria (in print). De-iconization and (re)-iconization: Diachronic aspects of lexical iconicity. In Olga Fischer, Kimi Akita, and Pamela Perniss, eds. Oxford Handbook of Iconicity in Language. Oxford: OUP.
• Flaksman, Maria (in print). Skeletons in the cupboard: Semantic evolution of imitative words. In Chris Smith, Philippe Monneret, Olga Fischer, and Chrisina Ljungberg (eds.) Iconicity and Analogy. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
• Flaksman, Maria (in print). Imitative words as parts of speech: A diachronic approach. In Christian Zimmer and Tanja Ackermann, eds. Diachrony of Word-Class Peripheries (Studies in Language Companion Series). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
• Flaksman, Maria (2024) Ýla, urra, and sussa: Imitative words in (Old) Icelandic. In Borisova Dana (ed.) Empirical Research on Germanic Languages. Moscow: Yazykoznalie. P. 36-52.
• Flaksman, Maria (2023). Sound imitation in Gothic: A fragmentary picture. In Ekaterina Yakovenko, ed. LINGUA GOTICA: Novye Issledovanija. (vol. 4). Moscow: BukuVedi.P. 88-100.
• Tkacheva, L., M. Flaksman, Y. Sedelkina, Y. Lavitskaya, A. Nasledov, and E. Korotaevskaya (2023). Neural indicators of visual and auditory recognition of imitative words on different de-iconization stages. In Brain Sciences 13 (4): 681.
• Flaksman, Maria (2022). Echoes of the past: Old English onomatopoeia. In Sara Lenninger, Olga Fischer, Christina Ljungberg and Elżbieta Tabakowska (eds.) Iconicity in Cognition and across Semiotic Systems [Iconicity in Language and Literature 18], John Benjamins Publishing Company. P. 331-350.
• Lavitskaya, Y., Y. Sedelkina, E. Korotaevskaya, L. Tkacheva, M. Flaksman, and A Nasledov (2022). Does de-iconization affect visual recognition of Russian and English iconic words? In Languages 7(2): 97.
• Flaksman, M. (2021). Old onomatopoeia: What etymological dictionaries tell us about sound imitation in extinct languages. In H. Van de Velde & F. Dolezal, Broadening Perspectives in the History of Dictionaries and Word Studies. Cambridge Scholars, 135-158.
• Tkacheva, L.; M. Flaksman, A. Nasledov, Y. Sedelkina, and Y. Lavitskaya (2021). Iconicity and second language visual perception: a psycholinguistic study of English imitative words at different de-iconization stages. In Mathematics 2021, 9, 1331.
• Flaksman, M. (2020). Pathways of de-iconization: How borrowing and regular sound changes obscure iconicity. In: Operationalizing iconicity. Iconicity in Language and Literature. Eds. Pamela Perniss, Olga Fischer and Christina Ljungberg. John Benjamins Publishing Company. P. 75-103.
• Flaksman, M.A. (2019). Sound imitative words in Beowulf. In: Discourse, 5 (3). P. 99-111.
• Flaksman, M. (2018). Onomatopoeia and regular sound changes. Siberian Federal University Journal: Humanities & Social Sciences. P. 1-11.
• Flaksman, M. (2017). Iconic treadmill hypothesis – the reasons behind continuous onomatopoeic coinage. In: Dimensions of Iconicity [ILL 15], Eds. Bauer, M., Zirker, A., Fischer, O., and Ljungberg Ch. John Benjamins Publishing Company, P. 15-38.

Workshop Convenor

• The 21st International Congress of Linguistics, The 21st International Congress of Linguistics (8-14 September 2024). Workshop All Shades of Iconicity
• Societas Linguistica Europaea (SLE) 56, Athens, Greece (29 Aug.-1 Sept. 2023). Workshop Onomatopoeia and Sound Symbolism

Talks

• The Biennial of Czech Linguistics (17-20 September 2024, Charles University of Prague, Czeck Republic). Talk: Onomatopoeia and language contact: Borrowed imitative words in the history of English
• Iconicity in Language and Literature (ILL14) (30 May-1 June 2024, University of Catania, Italy). Talk: Shards of iconicity:  Morphological change triggers de iconization of imitative words
• Lingua Gotica: New Approaches (II) (April 17 (online), Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow). Talk: Sound-imitative words in Gothic, Old English, and Old Icelandic: A comparative analysis
• International Conference on Historical Linguistics (ICHL26) (4-8 September 2023, Heidelberg, Germany). Talk: Lost in Translation: Onomatopoeic Words in Old English Glosses
• 45. Jahrestagung der DGfS (DGfS 45) (7-10 March 2023, Cologne, Germany Talk (invited speaker)): Fighting a losing battle: Onomatopoeia vs sound changes
• Historical English Word-Formation Symposium (17-18 Feb. 2023, LMU Munich, Germany). Talk: Conveying sound: Onomatopoeic word-formation in Old English
• Iconicity in Language and Literature (ILL13) (31 May-2 June 2022, Sorbonne University Paris). Talk: Semantic de-iconization of onomatopoeic words
• EVOLANG-2022 Joint Conference on Language Evolution (JCoLE) (5-8 September 2022 (online), Kanazawa, Japan) Talk: (with Liubov Tkacheva) Integrative brain activity in process of visual and audial recognition of imitative words on different de-iconization stages
• Workshop on Typology of Ideophones (WTI-2022) (24-25 June 2022 (online), York University, Toronto, Canada and Nagoya University, Japan). Talk: A transient border between imitative interjections/ideophones and content words
• Word-Formation Theories IV / Typology and Universals in Word-Formation V (23-26 June 2022, P.J. Šafárik University, Košice, Slovakia). Talk: Universality of onomatopoeic words decreases with de iconization
• Jabberwocky Words in Linguistics (11-12 February 2022 (online), Bucharest, Romania and Amherst, USA). Talk: Structured chaos: Recurrent patterns in occasional onomatopoeia
• Diachrony of Word Class Peripheries (workshop) (DGfS 44) (23-25 February 2022 (online), Tübingen, Germany). Talk: Imitative words as parts of speech: a diachronic approach
• Lingua Gotica: New Approaches (5 April 2022 (online), Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow). Talk: Sound imitation in Gothic: A fragmentary picture
• Iconicity in Prosaic Lexicon (workshop), Societas Linguistica Europaea (SLE 54) (29 Aug.-1 Sept. 2023, Athens, Greece). Talk: Onomatopoeia in phonaesthemic groups: An interplay between iconicity and systematicity
• Historical Lexicography and Lexicology (ICHLL 11) (16-18 June 2021 (online), La Rioja, Spain). Talk: Imitative words in Old Norse
• UK Cognitive Linguistics Conference (UKCLC 2020) (27-29 July 2020 (online), Birmingham, UK) Talk: From scratch: Universal patterns in occasional onomatopoeia
• Iconicity in Language and Literature (ILL 12) (3-5 May 2019, Lund, Sweden) Talk: Echoes of the past: Old onomatopoeia
• Historical Lexicography and Lexicology (ICHLL 10) (12-14 June 2019, Leeuwarden, Netherlands). Talk: Old Onomatopoeia: What etymological dictionaries tell us about sound imitation in extinct languages
• Historical Lexicology and Lexicography: From Glosses to Dictionaries (ICHLL 9) (20-22 June 2018, Santa Margherita Ligure, Italy). Talk: A diachronic dictionary of onomatopoeia: Challenges of compiling
• Iconicity in Language and Literature (ILL-11) (6-8 April 2017, Brighton, UK). De-iconization pathways: Evidence from modern and ancient Germanic languages
• Iconicity in Language and Literature (ILL 10) (26-28 March 2015, Tübingen, Germany). Talk: De-iconization as a vehicle of onomatopoeic coinage: A case for iconic treadmill

• English Etymology
• Introduction to Linguistics
• Antenglische Rätzel, Heilkundliche Rezepte und Zaubersprüche
• Old English Prose
• Introduction to Old English
• Anglo-Saxon Historical Record
• Anglo-Saxon Charms and Riddles
• Old English as a Germanic Language
• Old English Seminar
• Introduction to Middle English
• History of the English language
• Language in a Changing World: Sociolinguistic Aspects
• Linguistic Schools / History of Linguistic Research
• Germanic Languages
• English Stylistics
• English Theoretical Grammar (Morphology and Syntax)
• English Lexicology

• (PhD) Sound symbolism in invented languages: a psycholinguistic study (based on the literary works of J.R.R. Tolkien and R. Adams)
• (PhD) Words from phonaesthemic groups in Germanic languages: an etymological investigation
• (BA) Borrowing and code-switching in Irish English
• (BA) A comparative analysis of English and Vietnamese onomatopoeia
• (BA) Female names in Old English
• (BA) Cultural allusions in American TV series and their translation into Russian
• (BA) Irony and sarcasm in animated series Daria