Rebecca Hasselbach-Andee

Rebecca Hasselbach-Andee received her PhD in Semitic Philology from Harvard University in 2004. Her dissertation consisted of a comparative and linguistic study of Old Akkadian syllabic texts and was published in 2005 (Sargonic Akkadian: A Historical and Comparative Study of the Syllabic Texts. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz). After working as a preceptor for Semitic languages in the academic year 2004-05, Hasselbach-Andee was hired as Assistant Professor for Comparative Semitics by the University of Chicago in 2005, where she was promoted to Associate Professor in fall 2012.

Hasselbach-Andee’s research interests lie in the comparative study of Semitic languages. The main methodologies she applies are those of Historical Linguistics, Typology, and, in her most recent projects, Sociolinguistics. She has extensively worked on the reconstruction of certain grammatical features found in the Semitic language family, especially with regard to the morphology of Semitic languages, and, to a lesser degree, phonology and syntax. Topics she has worked on include the case system of Semitic (which also includes a brief study of Semitic word order), the development of gender and number marking, features of the pronominal system such as the original forms of the prefixes and suffixes of verbal forms and the origin of demonstrative pronouns, the use of the perfect for performatives, etc. Hasselbach-Andee has a broad interest in Semitic languages and thus incorporates evidence from various Semitic languages into her work, such as Akkadian, Arabic, Hebrew, Aramaic, Classical Ethiopic, and Old South Arabian.

She has taught both at Harvard and at Chicago. Courses she offers regularly at Chicago include an introduction and an advanced seminar in Comparative Semitics, an introduction to Classical Ethiopic (Ge‘ez), and Old South Arabian. In addition, she is offering classes in Akkadian dialects such as Old Akkadian and the Akkadian of the Amarna letters.

• NELG 20301/30301 Introduction to Comparative Semitics
• NELG 20901/40301 Advanced Seminar in Comparative Semitics Linguistics
• GEEZ 10101-02-03 Introduction to Classical Ethiopic (Ge‘ez)
• NELG 30325 Old South Arabian
• AKKD 30820 Readings in the letters from Tell el-Amarna
• HUMA 17000 Language and the Human