Languages

I’ve been deeply in love with foreign languages since I was about eight years old. The more I reflect on this passion, the more I see its influence in my other pursuits. To code means to create using language subject to formal constraints, poetry does as well.

Academia

I completed my bachelor’s in historical linguistics at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin in June 2023 with a focus on the comparative study of ancient Indo-European languages such as Sanskrit, Ancient Greek, and Gothic. Now, in pursuit of a master’s at Freie Universität Berlin, I’m enrolled in the general linguistics program. Currently attempting to juggle more languages than advisable.

In my role as full-stack developer and administrator in the ALEW project (Altlitauisches etymologisches Wörterbuch) at Humboldt-Universität, I oversee the development and maintenance of our etymological database and web application. Simultaneously, at Freie Universität Berlin’s ZODIAC project, I get paid to read ancient astrological texts and harvest technical terminology from them.

Research interests

My interests include but are not limited to: computational analysis of metrical texts, traditions of recitation (Vedic, Greek epic, Qur’anic), premodern etymologies, phonology of ancient languages, constructed languages.

For these I have worked with Latin, Ancient Greek, Sanskrit, Lithuanian, Arabic, and Coptic material, as well as Python and Haskell for data analysis, NLP, and machine learning.

For example, I wrote software to analyse the metrical properties of Kristijonas Donelaitis’ Lithuanian epic Metai (around 1770) composed in a hybrid form of stress- and quantity-based hexameter. You can read more about my approach here. For my Bachelor’s thesis I explored the properties of the epic Sanskrit anuṣṭubh/śloka metre using a similar program. The analysis encompassed the 200K lines of the ‘great Indian epic’ Mahābhārata. My thesis was awarded the Humboldt prize.

As part of the Lange Nacht der Wissenschaften 2023 members of our institute at Humboldt-Universität brought to life an ancient tradition of Rigvedic recitation. Our performance was covered by a prominent Berlin radio station. For the purpose of practicing the melody of Vedic hymns I created a web application which derives the melody directly from the Vedic text and plays it in the browser—click here to find out more. Additionally, we crafted an interactive quiz that challenges participants to match an ancient language to its corresponding sound.

This passion for bringing ancient languages to life also fuels my project Ⲙⲁⲓⲱϣ, Coptic for ‘fond of reading aloud.’ On this platform, I and guest readers share readings of texts in various languages, currently focused on Coptic.

In the final semester of my Bachelor’s at Humboldt-Universität, I collaborated with my institute to initiate an event that has now become a recurring highlight: The Leseabend der toten Sprachen (LetoS). LetoS offers a unique chance for language enthusiasts to chant, read and recite prayer, prose and poetry in dead languages close to their hearts. While its origins trace back to Universität Marburg, Berlin has embraced it with open arms. See my article for more info.

Publications and presentations

You can download the full BibTeX data of publications and presentations.

Publications

Meinhardt, K. (2022, December). The return of the sower: Egyptian amulet. Berlin Papyrus Database (BerlPap). https://berlpap.smb.museum/die-heimkehr-des-saemanns-aegyptisches-amulett/?lang=en

Meinhardt, K. (2023). Der Hexameter der Metai von Kristijonas Donelaitis: Chancen und Grenzen einer automatischen Untersuchung. Baltistica, 58(2), 225–251. https://doi.org/10.15388/baltistica.58.2.2523

Mooshammer, C., Bobeck, D., Hornecker, H., Meinhardt, K., Olina, O., Walch, M. C., & Xia, Q. (2023a). Does orkish sound evil? Perception of fantasy languages and their phonetic and phonological characteristics. Language and Speech. https://doi.org/10.1177/00238309231202944

Mooshammer, C., Bobeck, D., Hornecker, H., Meinhardt, K., Olina, O., Walch, M. C., & Xia, Q. (2023b). Phonaesthetics of constructed languages: Results from an online rating experiment. In I. Noletto, J. Norledge, & P. Stockwell (Eds.), Reading fictional languages. Edinburgh University Press. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781399529167-009

Presentations

Meinhardt, K. (2023a). Neues aus der Mönchs-WG: Koptische apophthegmata patrum.

Meinhardt, K. (2023b). महाभारतच्छन्दः – Metrisches zum Mahābhārata.

Meinhardt, K., & Papenhoff, A. (2023). Die Kunst des Pāṭha: Vedische Mnemotechniken.

Meinhardt, K., Papenhoff, A., & Schütz, J. (2023). Wie klingt Vedisch?

Mooshammer, C., Egdorf, C., Bobeck, D., Conti, E., Wegmann, F., Hartz, G., Warnemünde, H., Hornecker, H., Sonnert, K., Meinhardt, K., Dingfeld, L., Weißgerber, M.-T., Roy, M., Olina, O., Lou, R., & Körner, S. (2021). Does Orkish sound evil? Perception and phonology of constructed fantasy languages.

Olina, O., Arbuzov, D.-K., Barz, L., Behling, B., Bunina, A., Caminer, J. C., Deichsler, F., Fosså, A., Göhring, J., Haden, L., Heblik, L., Heckmann, A., Hehlert, V., Hill, D., Hullmeine, H. I., Ilgner, B., Koerber, L., Kuehn, M. I., Meinhardt, K., … Wohlatz, F. (2023a). Assessing the vitality of minority languages in Berlin.

Olina, O., Arbuzov, D.-K., Barz, L., Behling, B., Bunina, A., Caminer, J. C., Deichsler, F., Fosså, A., Göhring, J., Haden, L., Heblik, L., Heckmann, A., Hehlert, V., Hill, D., Hullmeine, H. I., Ilgner, B., Koerber, L., Kuehn, M. I., Meinhardt, K., … Wohlatz, F. (2023b). Metrolingualism in Berlin: Decline or change in heritage languages?

Olina, O., Arbuzov, D.-K., Barz, L., Behling, B., Bunina, A., Caminer, J. C., Deichsler, F., Fosså, A., Göhring, J., Haden, L., Heblik, L., Heckmann, A., Hehlert, V., Hill, D., Hullmeine, H. I., Ilgner, B., Koerber, L., Kuehn, M. I., Meinhardt, K., … Wohlatz, F. (2023c). Metrolingualism in Berlin: Decline or change in heritage languages?

Olina, O., Arbuzov, D.-K., Barz, L., Behling, B., Bunina, A., Caminer, J. C., Deichsler, F., Fosså, A., Göhring, J., Haden, L., Heblik, L., Heckmann, A., Hehlert, V., Hill, D., Hullmeine, H. I., Ilgner, B., Koerber, L., Kuehn, M. I., Meinhardt, K., … Wohlatz, F. (2023d). Unseen and unheard: Speakers of minority languages in Berlin.

Projects and articles