Dr. William Baxter

Biography

William Baxter is a Professor of Linguistics at the University of Michigan, specializing in historical linguistics. His notable work includes the book 'Handbook of Old Chinese Phonology', published by Mouton DeGruyter in 1992, which presents a reconstruction of the pronunciation of Old Chinese, the language of the earliest Chinese literary texts. In cooperation with Laurent Sagart from CNRS in Paris, Baxter has worked on a revised and updated reconstruction of Old Chinese, focusing on linguistic reconstruction related to the Chinese language around 1000 BCE. His research draws on previously underutilized evidence and integrates findings from recent studies of modern Chinese dialects and early Chinese loanwords from other languages, as well as documents recovered from archaeological sites. His recent publications explore the history of Chinese dialects, linguistic approaches to early Chinese literature, and the methodologies used in historical linguistics.

Research Interests