Dr Krishnan Ram-Prasad

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Junior Research Fellow in Classics and Linguistics
krishnan.ram-prasad@merton.ox.ac.uk

Qualifications: BA, MPhil, PhD (Cambridge)

Link to college page: https://www.merton.ox.ac.uk/people/dr-krishnan-ram-prasad

 

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Academic Background

I did my BA in Linguistics at Trinity College, Cambridge (2017); I focused on Historical Linguistics, and subsequently read for and MPhil in Classics (2018). I was awarded an AHRC doctoral studentship to study for a PhD in Classics at Peterhouse (2022), working on the syntax of relative clauses in Proto-Indo-European. I then worked for a short time as a Research Associate in the Linguistics section of the faculty of Modern and Medieval Languages and Linguistics at Cambridge, before taking up my current position in October, 2022.

Research Interests

My research in Comparative Philology sits at the intersection of Classics and Linguistics.  My first major project, encompassing my PhD thesis (2022) and my first book (in prep), investigates the structure of relative clauses in Proto-Indo-European within the theoretical framework of Minimalist syntax. I also have smaller projects addressing specific points of syntactic interest within the attested ancient Indo-European languages.

Alongside my linguistic research, I have a commitment to decolonising Classics and the study of the ancient world more generally. In this connection, I work on the role Comparative Philology can play in a critical reassessment of the wider discipline.

Research Keywords

Philology, Syntax, Historical Linguistics, Indo-European

Teaching

I tutor for various undergraduate courses in both General Linguistics and Classical Philology. I have also taught language classes in Latin, Ancient Greek, Sanskrit and Old English.

Publications

Full Publications:

Selected Publications:

2023. Clitics and the left periphery in the Sanskrit of the Rigveda. Journal of Historical Syntax 7(22).
2023. Comparative Philology and Critical Ancient World Studies. In M. Umachandran & M. Ward (eds.) Critical Ancient World Studies: The case for forgetting Classics. London: Routledge.