Francesco Perono Cacciafoco

(MENAFN- The Conversation)

• Associate Professor in Linguistics, Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University

Profile Articles Activity

Dr Francesco PERONO CACCIAFOCO (Ph.D. University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy, 2011), ΣΞ, is, currently, an Associate Professor in Linguistics at Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University (XJTLU), School of Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS), Department of Applied Linguistics (LNG), Suzhou, China, where he teaches Historical Linguistics (LNG307), Language Documentation (LNG210), and History of English (LNG105).

Before joining XJTLU, he was a Senior Lecturer in Historical Linguistics at the Linguistics and Multilingual Studies Programme (LMS), School of Humanities (SoH), College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences (CoHASS), Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore, where he was teaching Historical Linguistics, Etymology, Language and Oral Tradition, Historical Semantics, and History of Cryptography. At NTU, he was also the Latin Language Lead Coordinator at the Centre for Modern Languages (CML).

He got his Master of Arts in Classical Philology and Historical Linguistics (with a Dissertation on the History of the Latin Language) and his PhD in Historical Linguistics, Greek and Latin Philology and Literature, and Comparative Literature (with a Dissertation on the Historical Development of the Late Latin Language and Poetry) at the University of Pisa (Pisa, Italy), working with Prof. Claudio M. Moreschini and Prof. Maria G. Arcamone.

His Research expertise and interests are mainly focused on Historical Linguistics, on the etymological reconstruction of Indo-European (prehistoric) place names (Historical Toponomastics), on the study of Aegean Civilizations and Scripts, on the documentation of languages from South-East Asia belonging, in particular, to the Papuan and Austronesian families, and on the History of Cryptology and Crypto-linguistics. His academic background includes also Comparative Literature, Classical Philology, Theoretical Linguistics, Historical Geography, and Paleoanthropology. He has mainly studied, in these fields, Contemporary Western Poetry and the parodic Literature of Medieval and Renaissance Europe, oral (Homeric) Literature in Ancient Greece, the History of Greek and Roman Medicine and Medical Literature, the relations between landscape and the naming process of place names, and the prehistory of languages in Europe and Asia.

An Etymologist and Historian of Languages, he has developed Research work in Historical Linguistics and Mycenaeology at the University of Pisa (Pisa, Italy) and he has taught, as a Contract Professor, Comparative Literature and History of Greek and Roman Medical Literature at the International University of Pollenzo - UNISG (Pollenzo, Italy).

He has published around 80 Research works (papers, books, conference talks, book reviews, and chapters in academic books) and he is the first Author of the academic handbook Place Names: Approaches and Perspectives in Toponymy and Toponomastics (2023), published by the Cambridge University Press. In the field of Indo-European Linguistics, he has developed the so-called New Convergence Theory (NCT) on Indo-European origins, working, among others, with Dr Guido Borghi (University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy) and Prof. Martin Bernal.

He is the recipient of the Nanyang Technological University (NTU), School of Humanities (SoH), Lecturers Excellence (LEX) Award 2018 (Best Lecturer).

Francesco is an Academic Mentor and Reviewer at the Linguistic Society of America (LSA), where he is also a Member of the Committee on Endangered Languages and Their Preservation (CELP).

He is also a Lifetime Academic Member of 'Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honor Society (ΣΞ)', from Cornell University.

Academic Profile:

Experience

• 2023–present Associate Professor in Linguistics, Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University (XJTLU), Suzhou (Jiangsu), China
• 2017–2022 Senior Lecturer in Historical Linguistics, Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore

Education

• 2014 Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore, Post-Doctorate in Field Linguistics and Language Documentation
• 2011 University of Pisa (Italy), PhD in Classics and Historical Linguistics
• 2007 University of Pisa (Italy), MA in Classics and Historical Linguistics

Publications

• 2024 Cultural Contacts among Pre-Roman Peoples in Iron Age Italy: The Case of Venetic Inscriptions, Histories (Section "Cultural History"), 4, 2: 220-233
• 2024 Minoan Cryptanalysis: Computational Approaches to Deciphering Linear A and Assessing Its Connections with Language Families from the Mediterranean and the Black Sea Areas, Information, 15, 2, 73: 1-13
• 2024 'Moko' Drums and Gongs, Ritual Musical Instruments and Local Currency from Alor Island, Southeast Indonesia: A Comprehensive and Verified Lexical Data Set, Data in Brief, 54, 110354: 1-10
• 2024 Understanding through the Numbers: Number Systems, Their Evolution, and Their Perception among Kula People from Alor Island, Southeastern Indonesia, Humans, 4, 1: 34-49
• 2023 Place Names: Approaches and Perspectives in Toponymy and Toponomastics, Cambridge University Press
• 2023 Unravelling the Mystery of the Singapore Stone: A Comparative Analysis with the Calcutta Stone and the Possible Kawi Connection, Histories (Section "Cultural History"), 3, 3: 261-270
• 2023 What Is Your Legacy? A Pilot Study of Naming Practices of Legacy Hawker Stalls in a Singaporean Hawker Center, Social Sciences, 12, 6: 341 (1-13)
• 2023 Border Areas in Ancient Europe: A Case Study from Northeastern Italy, Review of Historical Geography and Toponomastics, XVIII, 35-36: 15-34
• 2023 A Puzzling Religious Inscription from Medieval Tuscany: Symbology and Interpretation, Histories (Section "Cultural History"), 3, 3: 219-230
• 2023 The Singapore Stone: Documenting the Origins, Destruction, Journey and Legacy of an Undeciphered Stone Monolith, Histories (Section "Cultural History"), 3, 3: 271-287
• 2022 Naming Public Transport and Historicising Experiences: Critical Toponymies and Everyday Multilingualism in Singapore's Mass Rapid Transit System, Urban Studies (Special Issue“Public Transport as Public Space”), 60, 15: 3045-3060
• 2022 Pedra Branca Off Singapore: A Historical Cartographic Analysis of a Post-colonial Territorially Disputed Island, Histories, 2, 1: 47-67
• 2022 Unveiling the Enigmatic Origins of Sardinian Toponyms, Languages, 7, 2, 131: 1-19
• 2022 Singapore's Forgotten Stories: The Orang Kallang Tribe of Kallang River, Humans, 2, 3: 138-147
• 2022 The Puzzle of a Horn: An Etymology for the Word Gemshorn, Annals of the University of Craiova: Series Philology, Linguistics / Analele Universității Din Craiova: Seria Ştiințe Filologice, Linguistică, 44, 1 / 2: 141-154
• 2022 From Pasir Ris to Pioneer: Singapore Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) Names in Relation to Its Identity, Onomastica, 66 (11): 147-161
• 2021 The Undeciphered Inscription of the Baptistery of Pisa, Academia Letters, 3359: 1-6
• 2021 Discovering Unwritten Stories: A Modular Case Study in Promoting Landscape Education, Education Sciences (Special Issue“An Educational Approach to Landscape”), 11(2), 68: 1-16
• 2021 Change and Continuity: Colonial and Contemporary Toponyms of Singapore's Offshore Islands, Review of Historical Geography and Toponomastics, XVI, 31-32: 87-122
• 2021 Toponyms as a Gateway to Society: An Abui Case Study, Old World: Journal of Ancient Africa and Eurasia, 1, 1: 1-18
• 2021 Isles and Their Stories: A Study of Three Islands of the Singapore Archipelago, Review of Historical Geography and Toponomastics, XVI, 31-32: 37-60
• 2021 A Study of Abui: Building an Abui Botanical Corpus and Examining Abui Culture through Its Folktales, Annals of the University of Craiova: Series Philology, Linguistics / Analele Universității Din Craiova: Seria Ştiințe Filologice, Linguistică, 43, 1 / 2: 159-179
• 2020 Plants and Place Names: A Case Study of Abui Toponymy, Review of Historical Geography and Toponomastics, XV, 29-30: 121-142
• 2020 Then and Now: A Comparative Historical Toponomastics Analysis of Station Names in 2 of Singapore's Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) Lines, Urban Science, 4(3), 37 (Special Issue“Urban Place Names: Political, Economic, and Cultural Dimensions”): 1-20
• 2020 Singapore's Pre-colonial Place Names: A Philological Reconstruction Developed through the Analysis of Historical Maps, Review of Historical Geography and Toponomastics, XV, 29-30: 79-120
• 2019 A Prehistoric 'Little Goose': A New Etymology for the Word Ocarina, Annals of the University of Craiova: Series Philology, Linguistics / Analele Universității Din Craiova: Seria Ştiințe Filologice, Linguistică, 41, 1 / 2: 356-369
• 2019 Sequent Occupance and Toponymy in Singapore: The Diachronic and Synchronic Development of Urban Place Names, Urban Science, 3(3), 98 (Special Issue“Urban Place Names: Political, Economic, and Cultural Dimensions”): 1-18
• 2018 Voices from the Streets: Trends in Naming Practices of Singapore Odonymy, Review of Historical Geography and Toponomastics, 13, 25-26: 9-30
• 2018 Lamòling Bèaka: Immanence, Rituals, and Sacred Objects in an Unwritten Legend in Alor, Religions, 9, 7, 211
• 2017 Linear A and Minoan: Some New Old Questions, Annals of the University of Craiova: Series Philology, Linguistics / Analele Universității Din Craiova: Seria Ştiințe Filologice, Linguistică, 39, 1 / 2: 154-170
• 2017 The Legend of Lamòling: Unwritten Memories and Diachronic Toponymy through the Lens of an Abui Myth, Lingua: An International Review of General Linguistics, 193: 51-61
• 2016 Abui Landscape Names: Origin and Functions, Onoma: Journal of the International Council of Onomastic Sciences - ICOS, 51 (Special Issue“Asian Onomastics”): 75-111
• 2015 Linguistic Contact in Prehistoric Italy: At the Origins of the Place Name Imola, Names: A Journal of Onomastics, 63, 3: 158-170
• 2015 Diachronic Toponomastics and Language Reconstruction in South-East Asia According to an Experimental Convergent Methodology: Abui as a Case-Study, Review of Historical Geography and Toponomastics, 10, 19 - 20: 29-47
• 2014 Beyond Etymology: Historical Reconstruction and Diachronic Toponomastics through the Lens of a New Convergence Theory, Acta Linguistica: Journal for Theoretical Linguistics, 8 - 3: 79-98
• 2013 Water Place Names in the Pre-Latin Ligurian Context: A Study in Prehistoric Toponomastics and Semantics, Problems of Onomastics / Voprosy Onomastiki, 2 - 15: 91-107

Grants and Contracts

• 2024 Place Names and Cultural Identity: Toponyms and Their Diachronic Evolution among the Kula People from Alor Island Role: PI Funding Source: Grant Number: RDF-23-01-014, School of Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS), Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University (XJTLU), Suzhou (Jiangsu), China
• 2024 Mapping the Languages of Indigenous Clans in the Eastern Spice Islands Role: PI Funding Source: Directorate of Cultural Development and Utilization, Directorate General of Culture, Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia (Jakarta, Java, Indonesia), Grant Number: 0513/F5/KB.10.04/2024
• 2021 An Online Open-Source Database for the Dongba Pictographic Writing System Role: PI Funding Source: Arts and Humanities Research Grant, Grant Number: 020892-00001, College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences (CoHASS), Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore
• 2020 Polyglot Medical Heritage in Maritime Southeast Asia: Foundational Resources and Digital Tools Role: Co-PI Funding Source: National Heritage Board (NHB), Singapore, Grant Number NHB: 92.90 NTU: 020248-00001
• 2018 Giving Voice to the Minoan People: The Decipherment of Linear A Role: PI Funding Source: Singapore Ministry of Education (MOE), Singapore, Grant Number 2017-T1-002-193

Professional Memberships

• Permanent Member of the Editorial Board of the peer-reviewed academic Journal Idil: Journal of Art and Language - Nevşehir Hacı Bektaş Veli University (Nevşehir, Turkey), 2013 - present
• Member of ICOS - International Council of Onomastics Sciences, 2014 - present
• Member of EMS - European Mathematical Society, 2017 - present
• Member of IACR - International Association for Cryptologic Research, 2017 - present
• Member of the LSA - Linguistic Society of America, 2017 - present
• Member of the Societas Linguistica Europaea (SLE), 2020 - present
• Member of the International Association of Applied Linguistics (AILA), 2021 - present
• Member of the Singapore Association for Applied Linguistics (SAAL), 2021 - present
• Member of the Committee on Endangered Languages and Their Preservation (CELP) at the Linguistic Society of America (LSA), 2021 - present
• Fellow of the Honorary XJTLU Association at the University of Liverpool (UoL), Liverpool, UK, 2023 - present
• Associate Editor and Member of the Editorial Board of the peer-reviewed academic Journal Humanities and Social Sciences Communications (Springer Nature), 2023 - present
• Editor and Member of the Editorial Board of the peer-reviewed academic Journal Histories (MDPI), 2024 - present
• Lifetime Academic Member of 'Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honor Society (ΣΞ)', from Cornell University, 2024 - present

Honours

Lifetime Academic Member of 'Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honor Society (ΣΞ)', from Cornell University; Lecturers Excellence (LEX) Award 2018 (Best Lecturer), Nanyang Technological University (NTU), School of Humanities (SoH), Singapore

MENAFN15012026000199003603ID1110602414