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. 

Academia.edu: https://xjtlu.academia.edu/FrancescoPeronoCacciafoco

ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Francesco-Perono-Cacciafoco

Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=Y-Wxuh4AAAAJ&hl=en

ORCID ID: 0000-0002-0977-063X

Scopus Author ID: 55968837200

Web of Science Researcher ID: ABB-8075-2020

Also known as 赵中意

E-mail:

XJTLU: Francesco.Perono@xjtlu.edu.cn

UoL: Francesco.Perono-Cacciafoco@liverpool.ac.uk

Office: HS319, SIP Campus, Humanities and Social Sciences Building

RESEARCH INTERESTS 

Historical Linguistics

Etymology

Indo-European Linguistics

Toponymy Toponomastics

Onomastics

Historical Semantics

Language Deciphering

Cryptology Crypto-linguistics

History of Writing Grammatology

Field Linguistics Language Documentation

Descriptive Linguistics

Human Evolution Language Evolution

Theoretical Linguistics

Austronesian and Papuan Languages

Landscape Archaeology

History of Medicine and Medical Literature

RESEARCH GRANTS 

• PERONO CACCIAFOCO, Francesco (PI) - "Mapping the Languages of Indigenous Clans in the Eastern Spice Islands" - Research Grant funded by the 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, Indonesia, 2024-2025
• PERONO CACCIAFOCO, Francesco (PI) - "Place Names and Cultural Identity: Toponyms and Their Diachronic Evolution among the Kula People from Alor Island" - Research Development Fund (RDF) Grant, Grant Number: RDF-23-01-014, School of Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS), Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University (XJTLU), Suzhou (Jiangsu), China, 2024-2025
• PERONO CACCIAFOCO, Francesco (PI) - "Words and Their Stories: An Etymological Exploration of the English Vocabulary" - Summer Undergraduate Research Fund (SURF), Grant Number: SURF-2023-0119, School of Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS), Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University (XJTLU), Suzhou (Jiangsu), China, 2023
• PERONO CACCIAFOCO, Francesco (PI) - "An Online Open-Source Database for the Dongba Pictographic Writing System" - Arts and Humanities Research Grant, Grant Number: 020892-00001, College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences (CoHASS), Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore, 2021-2023
• STANLEY-BAKER, Michael (PI), ZAKARIA, Faizah (Co-PI), PERONO CACCIAFOCO, Francesco (Co-PI) - "Polyglot Medical Heritage in Maritime Southeast Asia: Foundational Resources and Digital Tools", National Heritage Board (NHB), Singapore, Grant Number NHB: 92.90 NTU: 020248-00001, 2020-2022
• PERONO CACCIAFOCO, Francesco (PI) - Singapore Ministry of Education (MOE) AcRF Tier 1 Research Grant (Grant Number 2017-T1-002-193), "Giving Voice to the Minoan People: The Decipherment of Linear A", 2018-2021

Associate Professor in Linguistics - Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University (XJTLU), Suzhou (Jiangsu), China - 2023-Present

Senior Lecturer in Historical Linguistics - Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore - 2020-2023

Latin Language Lead Coordinator - Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore - 2017-2022

Lecturer in Historical Linguistics - Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore - 2017-2020

Research Fellow in Linguistics and Multilingual Studies - Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore - 2015-2016

Post-Doctoral Research Fellow in Language Documentation and Field Linguistics - Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore - 2013-2014

Courses Taught (at Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, Suzhou, China)

LNG105 History of English

LNG210 Language Documentation

LNG307 Historical Linguistics

Courses Taught (at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore)

Undergraduate Courses

HG2002 Semantics and Pragmatics

HG2093 Discovering Unwritten Stories: A General Introduction to Toponymy and Toponomastics

HG2094 Word of Mouth: Transmission of Oral Culture

HG2095 Codes from the Past: A General Introduction to the History of Cryptography

HG2097 Whats in a Name? - A General Introduction to Etymology

HG3021 Language Change (Historical Linguistics)

HG4044 Language Evolution

HG4049 Semantic Analysis (Historical Semantics)

HG8009 Introduction to Human Evolution

HG8012 Code-Breakers at Work: A General Introduction to Cryptology and Crypto-Linguistics

SP0036 Paleoanthropology and Human Evolution

LX5001 Latin Language Level 1

LX5002 Latin Language Level 2

Graduate Courses

HG7009 Topics in Historical Linguistics

HG7020 Readings in Linguistics Research

HG7029 Advanced Semantics

HG7038 Origins and Evolution of Language: Biological, Computational, and Culture

Courses Taught (at Xian Jiaotong-Liverpool University, Suzhou, China)

LNG105 History of English

LNG307 Historical Linguistics

Courses Taught (at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore)

Undergraduate Courses

HG2002 Semantics and Pragmatics

HG2093 Discovering Unwritten Stories: A General Introduction to Toponymy and Toponomastics

HG2094 Word of Mouth: Transmission of Oral Culture

HG2095 Codes from the Past: A General Introduction to the History of Cryptography

HG2097 Whats in a Name? - A General Introduction to Etymology

HG3021 Language Change (Historical Linguistics)

HG4044 Language Evolution

HG4049 Semantic Analysis (Historical Semantics)

HG8009 Introduction to Human Evolution

HG8012 Code-Breakers at Work: A General Introduction to Cryptology and Crypto-Linguistics

SP0036 Paleoanthropology and Human Evolution

LX5001 Latin Language Level 1

LX5002 Latin Language Level 2

Graduate Courses

HG7009 Topics in Historical Linguistics

HG7020 Readings in Linguistics Research

HG7029 Advanced Semantics

HG7038 Origins and Evolution of Language: Biological, Computational, and Culture

2024, Lifetime Academic Member of 'Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honor Society (ΣΞ)', Non-profit Honor Society for Scientists and Engineers from Cornell University

2024, URECA Journal Publication Award (with Aaradh NEPAL), Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore

2022, URECA Journal Publication Award - Highest Distinction (with Brenda Man Qin ONG), Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore

2022, URECA Journal Publication Award (with May Yen LIEU), Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore

2021, URECA Journal Publication Award - (with Shuan Tyan Gin LIM), Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore

2019, Best Lecturer Award - Nanyang Technological University (NTU), School of Humanities (SoH), Lecturers Excellence (LEX) Award 2018

2019, URECA Journal Publication Award (with Vanessa Ellen Mei Yin NAH), Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore