Benjamín Molineaux

I have been a member of The University of Edinburgh’s Linguistics and English Language Department since 2014, first as a postoctoral fellow and, as of April 2021, as Lecturer.

My research is mostly within the scope of the Angus McIntosh Centre for Historical Linguistics (AMC), which I serve as Depute Director to. I work on the historical phonology and morphology of Mapudungun, the ancestral language of the Mapuche people the American Southern Cone, as well as on the early sounds and spellings of the Scots language. I also have an interest in the languages of the Americas more broadly and their contribution to linguistic diversity and linguistic theory.

Originally from Santiago, Chile, I began my work life as a secondary-school Philosophy and English teacher, both on the southern island of Chiloé, and in New York City state schools. At times, I’ve also worked in adult education and HR consultancy in Santiago and as a freelance pronunciations editor for the Oxford English Dictionary.