PROF Johnson F.I

TITLE (PROF/DR/): Prof.

NAME: Johnson Folorunso ILỌRI

POSITION: Professor            SPECIALISATION: Syntax, Semantics, Translation, Yoruboid languages

EDUCATION/TRAINING (Begin with Bachelor’s degree or other initial professional education, such as nursing, include postdoctoral training and residency training if applicable. Add/delete rows as necessary.)

INSTITUTION AND LOCATION	DEGREE (if applicable)	Completion Date MM/YYYY	FIELD OF STUDY
Obafemi Awolowo University- Ile-Ife, Nigeria	B.A.	04/1995	Yoruba
Obafemi Awolowo University- Ile-Ife, Nigeria	M.A.	10/2000	Yoruba Language and Linguistics
Adekunle Ajasin University- Akungba-Akoko, Nigeria	Ph.D.	11/2010	Linguistics
New-York University in Ghana, African Linguistics School, – Accra, Ghana	Certificate	07/2009	Linguistics
University of Amsterdam, Netherlands	Postdoc	07/2011	Linguistics

Personal Statement

I am a professional linguist with interest and scholarly expertise in theoretical syntax (word and clause) and semantics and their application in teaching and research, speech recognition systems, law and justice (forensics), annotated corpus building, translation, and contrastive and error analyses of Nigerian languages (especially Yoruboid languages, Igbo, and Nigerian Pidgin (Naija)) in relation to English. I consult and collaborate globally on general linguistics curriculum development and research, Yoruba language-based translation (technical, religious, literary, etc.), subtitling, lexicography, and Yoruba as a foreign language.

Positions, Scientific Appointments, and Honours

• Research Fellowship – LeibnizDream Children Language Project, ZAS Berlin, Germany | March 2025/2026
• Best Doctoral Thesis Supervisor’s Award for Best PhD Thesis in Humanities (2024) – School of Postgraduate Studies, University of Lagos | 2024
• Researcher/Local Investigator for Yoruba Child language, LeibnizDream Child Language Project,

Zentrum Angewandte Sprachwissenschaft (ZAS)/Centre for General Linguistics, Berlin, Germany | 2021 – Present

• Consultant Linguist – New English-Yoruba Bi-lingual Dictionary Project, University Press Plc. Ibadan, Nigeria | 2023-present
• Editor – Lagos Notes and Records – Faculty of Arts Journal, University of Lagos | 2019- Present
• Chair – Faculty of Arts Publication’s Committee, University of Lagos, Nigeria | 2019 – Present
• Editor – Ihafa: A Journal of African Studies – Department of Linguistics African and Asian Studies Journal, University of Lagos | 2015 – 2022
• Local Coordinator – African Linguistics School 3, held at Leads City University, Ibadan, Nigeria | 2013
• Coordinator – 25^th Conference of the Linguistic Association of Nigeria (25^th CLAN) held at Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko | 2012
• Visiting Research Scholarship, Department of Linguistics, University of Amsterdam, Netherlands | 2011
• Researcher for Yoruboid languages (Yoruba, Igala and Itsẹkiri) in the Sino-Kwa Project, University of Amsterdam, Netherlands | 2011

Selected Most Recent Publications/Contributions to Knowledge

1. Ilori, J. F. (2023). ‘The Semantics of Yoruba Presupposition Triggers’. SKASE Journal of Theoretical Linguistics, Volume 20, no. 2, 141-162 http://www.skase.sk/Volumes/JTL53/07.pdf. ISSN 1336-782.
2. Kazuko Yatsushiro, Chiara Dal Farra, Aurore Gonzalez, Johannes Hein, Silvia Silleresi, Alicia Avellana, Aijun Huang, Johnson F. Ilori, Gayathri G. Krishnan, Lilla Pintér, Maria Teresa Guasti, Uli Sauerland (2022). “Children’s Wh-Questions across Languages: Some Preliminary Results”, Ying Gong and Felix Kpogo (ed.) Proceedings of the 46th annual Boston University Conference on Language Development (BUCLD) Volume 2, 890-903, Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Press. http://www.cascadilla.com/bucld46toc.html
3. Ilori, J. F. & J. Onuora (2021).  ’A Syntactic Reappraisal of Polar Question Constructions in Igbo’. Journal of the Linguistic Association of Nigeria (JOLAN) 24, 2, 37-60. www.jolan.org.ng
4. Ilori, J. F. & O. Are 2021. A Morpho-Semantic Study of Okun Names: Implications for Okun Linguistic Identity. UNILAG Journal of Humanities Volume 9 No. 2, 1-23.

5. Ilori, J. F. (2017). ‘Interrogative Projections in Yoruboid Languages’. Journal of West African Languages 44 Issue 1, pages 1-21. Official Publication of the West African Linguistic Society (WALS). University of Vienna, Austria https://main.journalofwestafricanlanguages.org/index.php/downloads/category/128-Volume-44-number-1

            Collaborators/ Networks International inclusive

1. Dr. Uli Sauerland, Centre for General Linguistics, ZAS, Berlin, Germany
2. Maria Teresa Guasti, Department of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milano, Italy

• Dr. Enoch Oláde Aboh, Amsterdam Center for Language and Communication, University of Amsterdam, Netherlands

1. Lendzemo Constatine Yuka, Department of Linguistics, University of Benin, Nigeria
2. Olusola Are, Department of English, Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko, Nigeria