Studies of history and culture of
Islamic countries, Semitic studies and applied linguistics
(English) at the University of Erlangen-Nürnberg. Master of
Arts degree. Thesis: The Vocabulary of the Arabic Dialects
of Bahrein.
1985-1987
Two years research-leave at the
Aramaic villages of Qalamûn (Syria), funded by the DAAD. I
focused on a comparative analysis of the phonetics and
morphology of the three Western Neo-Aramaic dialects.
1987-1988
Postgraduate studies of Semitic studies, history and culture of Islamic countries, and geography at the Friedrich-Alexander-University of Erlangen. In July 1988 doctoral degree summa cum laude. Title of the thesis: Phonetics and Morphology of Western Neo-Aramaic.
Academic and professional experience:
1988-1991
Research officer at Prof. Dr. Otto
Jastrow's project "Western Neo-Aramaic". Publication of four
volumes containing texts of the Western Neo-Aramaic.
1991-1996
Assistant at the chair of Semitic
Studies at the institute of Language and Culture of the Near
East at the University of Heidelberg. In this period
fieldwork on the Arabic dialects of Antiochia spoken by the
immigrants in Germany.
1993
Research leave in Dhofar, to gather
data on the Modern South Arabic languages.
1996-1997
Assistant at the Institute of
Extraeuropean Languages and Cultures of the University of
Erlangen-Nürnberg
1997
Post-doctoral thesis
("Habilitation") on the Arabic dialects of Antiochia at the
University of Erlangen-Nürnberg
1997-1999
Senior assistant at the institute of
extraeuropean languages and cultures of the
Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nürnberg. I
continued to work on the dictionary of Western Neo-Aramaic.
since October 1999
Professor of Semitic studies at the Institute of language and culture of the near east of the University of Heidelberg.
