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Staff Profile

Professor Ian MacKenzie

Professor of Spanish Linguistics

  • Email: ian.mackenzie@ncl.ac.uk
  • Telephone: 0191 208 8337
  • Address: Room 5.31,
    Old Library Building,
    Claremont Rd,
    Newcastle upon Tyne,
    NE1 7RU
Background
Introduction

Ian Mackenzie was educated at Balliol College, Oxford and St John’s College, Cambridge, completing his PhD in 1994 under the supervision of Sir John Lyons. He has been professor of Spanish Linguistics at Newcastle University since 2007 and is a well-known figure in this and related disciplines. He is the author of seven books, as well as numerous articles in the fields of syntax, semantics and diachronic linguistics. He has served on various subject-related committees, including the AHRC Grants Panel and the A-Level Content Advisory Board, and has been a peer reviewer for a number of grant-awarding organizations, both in the UK and abroad. His opinion is regularly sought by publishers and he gives overseas seminars and lectures, participating, for example, in the international masters in Spanish linguistics at the Universidad de Oviedo. When not engaged in promoting his discipline, he is a keen amateur rock climber.

Professor Mackenzie specializes in Spanish and Romance linguistics, particularly syntax and language change. He is also interested in standardization and the way it impacts both language users and professional analysts of language. His theoretical approach reflects an uneasy tension between strict Chomskyan Minimalism and Milroy-style sociolinguistic scepticism.

Prospective research students are very welcome to contact him to discuss possible projects in any area relating to Spanish or the history of Spanish. Topics in French syntax will also be considered.


Teaching

Undergraduate Teaching

SML1019 Introduction to Linguistics

SPA2019 World Spanish

SPA2061 Level C Spanish General Language

SPA4007 Spanish and Romance Word Analysis

Postgraduate Teaching

SPA8017 Spanish and Romance Word Analysis

Publications