Dr. Todor Koev
Conrad and Chinita Abrahams-Curiel Department of Foreign Literatures and Linguistics, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
My life before BGU:
I was born and raised in Bulgaria and completed my undergraduate education in philosophy and business administration at Sofia University. I earned my PhD in linguistics from Rutgers University in the US, after which I spent 10 years at three German universities (Stuttgart, Düsseldorf, Konstanz) as a postdoctoral researcher, project leader, and visiting professor.
Why BGU?
I was impressed by the level of research at my new department, as well as how approachable and kind all the faculty are. Beyond that, I know very little about BGU, Beer-Sheva, or Israel, so I have a lot to explore.
My Research:
My research focuses on semantics, a branch of theoretical linguistics that investigates how the meanings of individual words are combined into meaningful sentences and how these sentences interact with the linguistic context. As it turns out, human languages are governed by a set of general rules, and so the goal of my research is to uncover these rules. The most exciting part is that these rules operate subconsciously; we are never explicitly taught them and can only observe their effects by studying the language produced by native speakers.
An insight from my research:
Keep an open mind, ask the right questions about the world, talk to the smartest people you can find, never give up on your own ideas.
Something that doesn’t appear on my resume:
I play the electric bass.
A source of inspiration:
Allan Holdsworth.
When I grow up...
As a kid, I never knew how to answer this question, so I ended up being a linguist.
If I were not a researcher, I would …
be engaged in playing music or studying math.
In Brief:
- Master Chef or Kupa Rashit (Checkout)? Master Chef.
- Pilates or spinning? Jogging.
- Morning or night? Morning, so I can be productive and have the entire day ahead.
- Summer or winter? Summer if living in the north, winter if living in the south.
- Steak or tofu? Tofu, I’m a vegetarian.
- Instant coffee or espresso? Espresso.
- Trek or a spa? Trek.
- Car or train? Train.
- Classical Europe or India? I guess India (I already know classical Europe, more or less).
- Sea or pool? Sea. Always go for nature.
- City or country? Work in the city, live in the country.
- A movie at the cinema or a binge on Netflix? A good show on You Tube.
- Text or voice message? Text message, it seems more polite.
- Dog or cat? Neither.
- Instagram or TikTok? Good old Skype.
- Three things I would take to a desert island? A boat, a map, and a compass.
