Richard Hanna Assaley - Near Eastern Languages & Cultures

Richard Hanna Assaley

Graduate Student

Richard Hanna Assaley is a first-year Ph.D. student with a B.A. from UC Berkeley and an M.A. from the American University of Beirut. His research explores the divergent trajectories of Maltese and Lebanese Arabic in relation to the broader Arabic linguistic sphere—one existing largely outside of it, the other thriving within. By examining the historical, political, and colonial forces that shaped these dynamics, his work sheds light on how languages negotiate identity, power, and legitimacy. Drawing on his background in nationalism studies and MENA politics, he approaches this inquiry through an interdisciplinary lens that bridges sociolinguistics, dialectology, and political theory. When not overanalyzing vowel shifts, he moonlights as an actor and lifts heavy things for fun.

Education

M.A. in Political Studies, American University of Beirut
B.A. in Political Science, University of California, Berkeley

Research

Research Interests

Arabic sociolinguistics
Levantine Arabic varieties
Maltese-Arabic dynamics
Sanna (Cypriot Arabic)
Colonial language influence
Nationalism and language politics
Lebanese zajal and Maltese għana as oral poetic traditions

Additional Interests

Language revival and revitalization movements
Canaanite and post-Canaanite language dynamics
Modern spoken Western Aramaic varieties
Exegesis of sacred texts
Ethnoreligious identity and linguistic expression
LandBack movements
Primordialism, autochthony, and narrative indigeneity

Publications

Books

The Fundamentals of Lebanese Grammar

Routledge/Taylor & Francis, 2023

Honors & Awards

H.E. Ghassan Al-Rashash Award for Academic Excellence, American University of Beirut