​​​Alex Bellem

​Dr Alex Bellem has been with AKU since 2021; she is a linguist specialising in comparative–theoretical phonology (and the phonetics interface) and Arabic dialectology, with expertise in the languages and linguistics of the eastern Mediterranean and contiguous regions; she is currently expanding her scholarly interest in Kurdish language and linguistics and in multilingualism. 

She has research expertise in Government Phonology, working on phonological typology, with a major interest in pharyngealisation, Semitic emphatics, and phonation. She has empirical expertise in phonologies of the languages of western Asia and its transition zones, in particular Kurdish and North-East Caucasian. On the Arabic front, more broadly, she has expertise in language variation in Arabic (including Mixed Arabic), and in Mesopotamian and Levantine dialects of Arabic (Iraq and Syria, as well as south-east Turkey and the wider Levant). Her scholarly interests extend also to dialectal and folk literature, and to cultural heritage.

After graduating from the University of Manchester with a degree in Middle Eastern Studies (Arabic and Turkish), she lived in Damascus, before returning to the UK to complete an MA in Linguistics at UCL. She subsequently spent several years teaching English language, parenting, working as a translator, and as academic editor, before moving on to PhD research and teaching in the Department of Linguistics at SOAS in London. 

​Alex previously held academic posts at Durham University (Lecturer then Assistant Professor in Arabic; 2012–2021) and Salford University (Lecturer in Linguistics; 2010–11). This followed two years in Amman and Damascus as CBRL's first Research Director (Syria), during which she set up the first CBRL operation in Damascus (2008–10). Prior to that she spent a "sabbatical" year as a Pronunciation Linguist at the BBC in London. Alex has peer-reviewed for a wide range of scholarly journals and publishers, and is currently on the editorial board of the Studies in Phonological Diversity series for Lang Sci Press, and the committee of ALiF (Forum for Arabic Linguistics). She served a term on the CBRL's board of trustees and was elected as Hon Sec 2017–19.​​

Research Interests​​​ 

• Comparative–theoretical phonology & phonological typology

• Phonology–phonetics interface

• Pharyngealisation, phonation, Semitic emphatics

• Arabic dialectology (especially Iraqi & Levantine dialects) and mixed Arabic

• Languages and linguistics of the eastern Mediterranean and contiguous regions; multilingualism; contact phenomena

• Kurdish language and linguistics

• Folk literature, and intangible cultural heritage​