I am a Senior Research Fellow in the Department of Linguistics and Communication at the University of Birmingham, UK.

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My current research project, funded by the British Academy (2025–2029), brings together my interests in the sociolinguistics of signed languages, language emergence, and language evolution. Through a comparative investigation of three sign languages—Israeli Sign Language (ISL), Kufr Qassem Sign Language, and British Sign Language (BSL)—the project examines the selection pressures that shape the emergence, maintenance, and decline of lexical variants. In particular, it investigates why certain signs become established within a language community while others gradually fall out of use, thereby contributing to broader theories of language evolution and change.

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From 2015 to 2025, I was based at Bar-Ilan University in Israel, where I had the opportunity to conduct extensive research on young sign languages and the processes through which linguistic complexity develops during the early stages of language emergence. This work provided a unique empirical context for investigating questions concerning the development of linguistic structure and the relationship between social conditions and language change.

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In recent years, increased mobility among younger deaf people has led to more frequent interaction between deaf communities at both national and international levels. Consequently, my research also examines the effects of language contact, focusing on interactions between different sign languages and regional varieties and their consequences for linguistic variation and change.

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More broadly, I am interested in the sociolinguistic functions of variation and in how linguistic features can index social-group membership and identity. My research considers the relationship between language and wider social factors, including gender and sexuality, and examines the extent to which patterns observed in signers are also reflected in the co-speech gestures produced by hearing non-signers. This comparative approach allows me to investigate the relationship between language, embodiment, social identity, and broader processes of linguistic and cultural change.