ABOUT ME

‣I work on historical linguistics. My scholarly interests concentrate on the etymology and historical grammar of the Slavic languages, including the reconstruction of their common ancestor – the Proto-Slavic language, which existed until the early Middle Ages. In my research I mostly work on the pre-literary period, which is essentially common for all of Slavic, but I am also interested in the later development of the individual Slavic languages, especially those that are geographically peripheral and smaller in terms of number of speakers. I also work on Indo-European, which is the major language family to which Slavic also belongs, and its reconstructed ancestor, the Proto-Indo-European language, which existed around the fifth millenium BCE. I am primarily interested in those Indo-European languages whose history features significant contact with Slavic: on the one hand Albanian and other non-Slavic languages of the Balkans, and on the other hand – the Baltic languages (such as Lithuanian and Latvian), which not only border the Slavic languages but also are their closest relatives within the Indo-European language family.

‣ Apart from my studies at the University of Lodz, I benefited greatly from the stipends at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (2007) and the University of Ljubljana (2010), as well as during my work as an assistant at a research project at the University of Oslo (2009–2010). The topic of my Ph.D. dissertation defended in 2017 at Harvard University was the fate of the Proto-Indo-European 'Caland System' in Slavic and Baltic. In my other publications, I have dealt with diverse topics, such as the origin and development of the Proto-Slavic pronouns *čьjь 'whose' (Pol. czyj) [2017], *koterъ 'which' (Pol. który) [2015] or *kъžьdo 'every' (Pol. każdy) [2012], the rise of the Balto-Slavic collective numerals with the element -r- (Pol. pięcioro 'group of 5') [2017] or of the atypical adverbial participles with the element -nik in Bulgarian and Macedonian dialects [2021], the etymology of the Albanian word for 'sister' [2020], issues in the adaptation of the earliest Slavic loanwords in Albanian [2019, 2024], the accentuation of certain types of Lithuanian participles [2017] and many other topics, usually at the intersection of etymology and historical morphology.

‣ I am the author of the entry 'Proto-Slavic' in the Encyclopedia of Slavic Languages and Linguistics (Brill, 2020) as well as of the chapters 'Inflectional Endings: Declensions' in the Cambridge Handbook of Slavic Linguistics (Cambridge University Press, 2024), 'From Indo-European to Proto-Slavonic: Problems in verbal inflection' in the Oxford Guide to the Slavonic Languages (Oxford University Press, forthc.), and 'Reflexivity and the Middle in Old Church Slavonic' in Reflexivity and the Middle in Indo-European (De Gruyter Mouton, forthc.; co-authored with Prof. Dr. Ivan N. Petrov).

‣ In the years 2020–2025 I was the PI of the research grant How deep in the past is 'deeper'? The comparative degree in the Slavic languages – origin, evolution, typology (National Science Center of Poland – NCN, OPUS; co-led with Dr. Rafał Szeptyński of the Institute of Polish Language, Polish Academy of Sciences); previously I was the PI of the grant Research on the morphology of old Slavic borrowings in Albanian (National Science Center of Poland – NCN, OPUS). I have also been the participant of a number of other research projects funded by the National Science Center (NCN) and the National Programme for the Development of the Humanities (NPRH).

‣ I am a member of the Etymological Commission of the International Committee of Slavists (since 2025) as well as of the Committee on Language History of the Polish Academy of Sciences (since 2020). Besides, I am a member of the Slavic Linguistics Society (2021–2024 on Executive Board), of the Indogermanische Gesellschaft / Society for Indo-European Studies / Société des études indo-européennes, of the Polish Linguistics Society, and of the Waldemar Ceran Research Centre for the History and Culture of the Mediterranean Area and South-East Europe – Ceraneum.

‣ I am a member of the editorial/advisory boards of the periodicals Studia Ceranea (Lodz), Folia onomastica Croatica (Zagreb), Južnoslovenski filolog (Belgrade), and Lucida intervalla (Belgrade).

‣ At the Slavic Philology program at the University of Lodz, I usually teach the following courses: History of the Slavic Languages, Introduction to Slavic Philology, Comparative Grammar of the Slavic Languages, and Descriptive Grammar of assorted Slavic languages.

EDUCATION

❖ M.A., English (University of Lodz, 2009)
❖ M.A., Slavic Languages (University of Lodz, 2010)
❖ Ph.D, Linguistics – Historical/Indo-European (Harvard University, 2017)

EMPLOYMENT

❖ University of Lodz – Department of Slavic Philology (2017–now) – assistant professor
❖ Harvard University – Department of Linguistics (2013–2016) – teaching fellow
❖ Universitetet i Oslo – Institutt for filosofi, ide- og kunsthistorie og klassiske språk (2009–2010) – research assistant

PUBLICATIONS

‣ See below. Full publication list available also at the ORCID and Google Scholar profiles. Most publications can be downloaded at Academia.edu and ResearchGate. Should you have problemes accessing any of my publications, please email me.

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LIST OF PUBLICATIONS

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In reference works

(forthc.) Majer, M. & Petrov, I. N. ‘Old Church Slavonic', [in:] Hock, W., Keydana, G. & Widmer, P. (eds.), Reflexivity and the Middle in Indo-European [Mouton Handbooks of Indo-European Typology, vol. 2], de Gruyter Mouton

(forthc.) Majer, M. ‘From Indo-European to Proto-Slavonic: Problems in verbal inflection’, [in:] Fellerer, J. & Bermel, N. (eds.), The Oxford Guide to the Slavonic Languages, Oxford University Press

(2024) Majer, M. ‘Inflectional endings: Declensions’, [in:] Šipka, D. & Browne, W. (eds.), The Cambridge Handbook of Slavic Linguistics, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 129–160

(2020) Majer, M. ‘Proto-Slavic’, [in:] Greenberg, M., Grenoble, L. et al. (eds.), Encyclopedia of Slavic Languages and Linguistics, Brill [online edition: https://doi.org/10.1163/2589-6229_eslo_com_032015; printed version in preparation]

In journals

(forthc.) Szeptyński, R. & Majer, M. ‘Variant-Based Analogy: Innovative consonant alternations in Slovak and Ukrainian comparatives’. To appear in Word Structure.

(forthc.) Majer, M. & Gashi, P. ‘The 18th-Century Albanian Bacmeister’sche Sprachprobe (Manuscript Berol. Ms. Slav. Oct. 3)’. To appear in Balkanistica.

(2025) Gretzinger, J., Biermann, F., Mager, H., King, B., Zlámalová, D., Traverso, L., Gnecchi Ruscone, G. A., Peltola, S., Salmela, E., Neumann, G. U., Radzeviciute, R., Ingrová, P., Liwoch, R., Wronka, I., Jurić, R., Hyrchała, A., Niezabitowska-Wiśniewska, B., Bartecki, B., Borowska, B., Dzieńkowski, T., Wołoszyn, M., Wojenka, M., Wilczyński, J., Kot, M., Müller, E., Orschiedt, J., Zariņa, G., Onkamo, P., Daim, F., Muhl, A., Schwarz, R., Majer, M., McCormick, M., Květina, J., Vida, T., Geary, P. J., Macháček, J., Šlaus, M., Meller, H., Pohl, W., Hofmanová, Z., Krause, J. ‘Ancient DNA connects large-scale migration with the spread of Slavs’, Nature 2025.

(2024) Majer, M. & Szeptyński, R. ‘Common Slavic *-nǫ-, *-ny-, or *-nu-? A new look at the history of the Slavic nasal suffix. The diachronic background and the rise of the Common Slavic variation’, Slavistična revija 72.3, 273-290

(2024) Szeptyński, R. & Majer, M., ‘Common Slavic *-nǫ-, *-ny-, or *-nu-? A new look at the history of the Slavic nasal suffix. The Slovene evidence for *-nu-’, Slavistična revija 72.2, 131-152

(2022) Majer, M., ‘Etimologjia e fjalës kot ‘pa dobi’’, Seminari Ndërkombëtar për Gjuhën, Letërsinë dhe Kulturën Shqiptare 40: 279–288

(2021) Majer, M., ‘The prehistory of the Proto-Slavic abstract suffix *-ostь and its Baltic congeners’, Scando-Slavica 67.2, 203-226

(2021) Мајер, М. ‘Потеклото на глаголските прилози од типот -ник’, Прилози. Македонска академија на науките и уметностите. Оделение за лингвистика и литературна наука 46.1 [= Посветени на акад. Зузана Тополињска по повод 90-годишнината од раѓањето], 251–276

(2021) Szeptyński, R. & Majer, M., ‘With all due respect, on Slavic abstracts in -y: The history of Proto-Slavic cěty ‘respect’ and some comparative notes on its congeners (ljuby ‘love’, cěly ‘healing, greeting’)’, Journal of Slavic Linguistics 29.1, 45–100

(2020) Majer, M., ‘Slavic *ljuby and the heterogeneity of the inflectional class in *‑y’, Indogermanische Forschungen 125, 79–104

(2019) Majer, M., ‘Parahistoria indoevropiane e fjalës shqipe për ‘motrën’’, Seminari Ndërkombëtar për Gjuhën, Letërsinë dhe Kulturën Shqiptare 38: 252–267

(2018) Majer, M. ‘Rindërtimi i morfologjisë së huazimeve sllave-shqiptare: rasti i shq. venit(em) dhe mahnit(em)’, Seminari Ndërkombëtar për Gjuhën, Letërsinë dhe Kulturën Shqiptare 37, 165–182

(2017) Majer, M. ‘Lith. vedą̃ = Sl. *vedǫtˈь. The accentuation of the nom. pl. of active participles as further proof of finite origin’, Baltistica 52.1, 5­–32

(2017) Majer, M. ‘The ‘fiver’: Germanic ‘finger’, Balto-Slavic de-numeral adjectives in *-ero- and their Indo-European background’, Transactions of the Philological Society 115.2, 239–262

(2017) Majer, M., review of: R. Matasović, Slavic Nominal Word-Formation: Proto-Indo-European Origins and Historical Development (Heidelberg: Winter, 2014, 221pp.), Journal of Slavic Linguistics 25.1, 147–167

(2017) Majer, M. ‘Pochodzenie prasłowiańskiego *čьjь ‘czyj’’, Jezikoslovni zapiski 23.2 [= Ob jubileju Ljubov Viktorovne Kurkine, ed. M. Furlan, S. Torkar & P. Weiss], 199–210

(2017) Majer, M. ‘A note on the Balto-Slavic and Indo-European background of the Proto-Slavic adjective *svętъ ‘holy”, Studia Ceranea 7, 139–149

(2015) Majer, M. ‘Russian kotóryj, Czech který, Slovene katę́ri: vowel variation in the reflexes of Proto-Slavic *koterъ(jь) ‘which (of the two)”, Scando-Slavica 61.2, 154–179

(2014) Majer, M. ‘The origin of the “l-less perfect” in the Novgorod birchbark documents’, Russian Linguistics 38, 167–185

(2009) Haug, D., Eckhoff, H., Majer, M., Welo, E. ‘Breaking down and putting back together: analysis and synthesis of New Testament Greek’, Journal of Greek Linguistics 9, 56–92

In edited volumes

(2024) Majer, M. ‘Two studies in Albanian etymology: vobektë ‘poor’, send ‘thing’’, [in:] Demiraj, B. (ed.), The Albanian Language Area and its Surroundings from Late Antiquity to the High Middle Ages [Albanische Forschungen, vol. 50], Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 209–232

(2024) Kapia, E. & Majer, M. ‘Ç’thuhet dhe nuk thuhet për shqipen tek artikulli i Science’, [in:] Vehbiu, A. et al. (eds.), Në mbrojtje të arsyes albanologjike. Kundër fallxhorëve të historisë së gjuhës shqipe, Tirana: Botimet M&B, 291–303

(2021) Majer, M. ‘Slavic ‘i-stem adjectives’ and their alleged inflection loss: the derivational prehistory and synchronic status of a category’, [in:] Blanc, A. & Boehm, I. (eds.), Dérivation nominale et innovations dans les langues indo-européennes anciennes. Actes du colloque international de l’université de Rouen (ÉRIAC), 11–12 octobre 2018 [Littérature & Linguistique, vol. 3], Lyon: Maison de l’Orient et de la Méditerranée, 73–89

(2021) Majer, M. ‘The Caland System as an explanatory device in Balto-Slavic etymology: A historical perspective’, [in:] Jouravel, A. & Mathys, A. (eds.), Wort- und Formenvielfalt. Festschrift für Christoph Koch zum 80. Geburtstag, Frankfurt a. M.: Peter Lang, 251–272

(2020) Majer, M. ‘The Indo-European prehistory of the Albanian word for ‘sister’’, [in:] Repanšek, L. et al. (eds.), Vácāmsi miśrā krṇavāmahai. Proceedings of the international conference of the Society for Indo-European Studies and IWoBA XII, Ljubljana 4–7 June 2019 celebrating one hundred years of Indo-European comparative linguistics at the University of Ljubljana, Hamburg: Baar, 453–463

(2020) Majer, M. ‘Општословенската позадина на создавањето на македонскиот предлог врз’, [in:] XLVI меѓународна научна конференција на LII летна школа на Меѓународниот семинар за македонски јазик, литература и култура. Охрид, 23 – 24. 8. 2019 година, Скопје: Универзитет „Св. Кирил и Методиј“, 46–57

(2019) Majer, М. ‘The Slavic source of Albanian venit(em) ‘wane’, mahnit(em) ‘astound’ and certain other verbs’, [in:] Gutiérrez Rubio, E. et al. (eds.), Contributions to the 22^nd Annual Scientific Conference of the Association of Slavists (Polyslav) [Die Welt der Slaven. Sammelbände, vol. 65], Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 156–165

(2019) Majer, M. ‘Pozostałości praindoeuropejskiego ‘Systemu Calanda’ w języku prasłowiańskim – wybrane przykłady’, [in:] Jakubowicz, M. et al. (eds.), Etymologica slavica. Studia etymologiczne poświęcone prof. Franciszkowi Sławskiemu z okazji setnej rocznicy urodzin [Prace Slawistyczne. Slavica, vol. 146], Warszawa: Instytut Slawistyki PAN, 81–99

(2017) Majer, M. ‘The etymology of Proto-Slavic *nizŭ ‘down(wards)’ and similar forms in other branches’, [in:] Olsen, B. A. et al. (eds.), Etymology and the European Lexicon. Proceedings of the 14^th Fachtagung der Indogermanischen Gesellschaft, 17–22 September 2012, Copenhagen, Wiesbaden: Reichert, 267–280

(2015) Majer, M. ‘A lovely alternative: Proto-Slavic *ljubo’, [in:] Mańczak-Wohlfeld, E. & Podolak, B. (eds.), Words and Dictionaries. A Festschrift for Professor Stanisław Stachowski on the Occasion of His 85^th Birthday, Cracow: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego, 193–203

(2014) Majer, M. ‘Więcej o derywatach ‘domowych’: prasłowiański przysłówek *domovь’, [in:] Bednarczuk, L. et al. (eds.), Polono-Slavica in honorem Maria Wojtyła-Świerzowska, Cracow: Impuls, 175–189

(2012) Majer, M. ‘An archaic Indo-European verbal form in the Slavic generalizing particle *-žĭdo?’, [in:] Melchert, H. C. (ed.), The Indo-European Verb. Proceedings of the Conference of the Society for Indo-European Studies, Los Angeles 13–15 September 2010, Wiesbaden: Reichert, 225–234

(2011) Majer, M. ‘PIE *so, *seh₂, *tod / PSl. *tъ, *ta, *to and the development of Proto-Indo-European word-final *-os in Proto-Slavic’, [in:] Krisch, Th. et al. (eds.), Indogermanistik und Linguistik im Dialog. Akten der XIII. Fachtagung der Indogermanischen Gesellschaft vom 21. bis 27. September 2008 in Salzburg, Wiesbaden: Reichert, 352–360