November 18, 2024

Will Williams successfully defends Thesis Proposal!


On November 15, 2024, Will Williams (now PhD Candidate) presented his thesis proposal, "Presuppositions, entailments, and other inferences: The case of factive-implicatives". 

His supervisory committee consists of Guillaume Thomas (senior supervisor; faculty), Michela Ippolito (faculty), and Keir Moulton (faculty).

Congrats Will on a successful thesis proposal presentation!  

November 16, 2024

Pedro Mateo Pedro Publishes The Itza' Pedagogical Grammar

The department is pleased to congratulate Pedro Mateo Pedro (faculty) on the publication of the Itza' Pedagogical Grammar, in collaboration with the Comindad Lingüística Itza' of the Academia de las Lenguas Mayas de Guatemala.


Itza’ is an endangered language spoken in Guatemala that belongs to the Yucatecan branch of Mayan languages. 80% of the pedagogical grammar appears only in Itza’, since the aim is to strengthen the understanding and oral expression of the language. The development of the grammar is part of a larger project on the revitalization of Itza’. 

This project was a joint effort with individuals in the language community and at UofT: Jorge Francisco Mex Tesucún (Comunidad Lingüística Itza'), Ana López Sipac (Kaqchikel speaker), Aki Zhang, Sooyoun Im, David Ramsay, Jevan Konyar, and Daniela Lopez Loncar (UofT).  

This is a great step towards revitalization and documentation. Congratulations everyone! 


The book is available here: 

Itza' Pedagogical Grammar

November 8, 2024

Grad Convocation 2024

On October 28 and November 1, we celebrated the conferral of our graduate students' MA and PhD degrees. This marks the culmination of hard work, dedication, and perseverance. Your achievements are a testament to your determination––we are incredibly proud of each and every one of you!

Our newly minted PhDs:

  • Angelika Kiss
  • Emilia Melara
  • Virgilio Partida Penalva
  • Maida Percival

We even had our own hooding ceremony! Angelika was hooded by her supervisor, Michela Ippolito (faculty).









Our new MAs:
  • Louis Careri
  • Laura Escobar
  • Siyi Fan
  • Fredrik Gao
  • Olanrewaju Samuel
  • Mechelle Wu
  • Aliya Zhaksybek

Kelly, Dave, Naomi, Keir, Michela, Nathan, Angelika, Pocholo, and Emily
















Guillaume Thomas (Graduate Coordinator) giving a toast

Naomi Nagy (Department Chair) congratulating our grads


Thank you to everyone (colleagues, friends, and family) who celebrated with us! And once again, a huge congratulations to our grads!