4 PhD Positions, Leiden University, Netherlands (2019)

The Tocharian Trek is a linguistic test of the hypothesis that early speakers of Tocharian moved from the Indo-European homeland first to southern Siberia, where they can be identified with the Afanasievo Culture, and then south into the Tarim Basin in Northwest China. The prehistory of Tocharian is reconstructed on the basis of its position in the Indo-European family tree and contacts with Uralic, Turkic and Middle Indic. The project is led by PI Dr Michaël Peyrot and funded by a Starting Grant of the European Research Council.

Position 1: The phylogenetic position of Tocharian
It is often claimed that Tocharian was, after Anatolian, the second branch to leave the Indo-European homeland. In this subproject, this problem is to be investigated in a systematic way, focusing on finding additional evidence against or in support of this claim.

Position 2: Linguistic contacts between Tocharian and Uralic
Tocharian shows many typological parallels with Uralic, which may be due to language contact. In this subproject, typological parallels between Tocharian and Uralic, especially Proto-Uralic and Proto-Samoyedic, are to be investigated. Lexical evidence for language contact is to be included as far as possible.

Position 3: Linguistic contacts between Tocharian and Turkic
Tocharian has been in contact with Turkic languages in several periods of time. In this project, it is to be investigated where and when such contacts may have taken place. Contacts with Old Uyghur may be taken into account, while the focus should be on prehistoric contacts, taking into account evidence from for instance Chuvash and Mongolian.

Position 4: Linguistic contacts between Tocharian and Middle Indic
The Gāndhārī variety of Niya in the south of the Tarim Basin has been claimed to show influence from a Tocharian dialect. In this subproject, all possible evidence relevant to this claim may be taken into account, notably: spelling peculiarities, hitherto obscure words and akṣaras as well as Iranian loanwords.

Requirements
• An MA (for PhD candidates) or PhD degree (for postdocs) in a relevant field;
• Demonstrable affinity with historical linguistics and linguistic reconstruction (knowledge of Tocharian is an advantage, but not a strict requirement);
• A scientific focus and creative approach, excellent analytical skills, and the ability to work both independently and as part of a team;
• Good writing skills;
• Proficiency in English.

For more information, please visit the following link:
4 PhD Positions, Leiden University, Netherlands (2019)