Dr. Isaac Bleaman

Biography

Isaac L. Bleaman is an Associate Professor in the Department of Linguistics at the University of California, Berkeley. His research focuses on sociolinguistic variation, language maintenance, language change, and language standardization. He addresses broad areas studying factors that constrain phonetic and grammatical variation, particularly in contemporary Yiddish. Bleaman is also interested in computational methods for syntactic theory analysis, especially mechanisms that account for optionality in variation. Currently, he is developing a corpus of conversational Yiddish using video-recorded Holocaust survivor testimonies, supported by a CAREER grant from the National Science Foundation. With extensive experience in academic and applied linguistics, including a previous position as a Language Engineer with Amazon Alexa, Bleaman has earned multiple degrees in Linguistics and Yiddish Studies from prestigious institutions, including a PhD from New York University. He is actively involved in several research initiatives, including directing the Sociolinguistics Lab at Berkeley (SLaB).

Research Interests

Experience