Personal profile
Personal information
I studied Classics at the University of Amsterdam and Comparative Linguistics at Leiden University. I also obtained a Master's degree in law. Since my PhD at the University of Amsterdam in 2002, I have been teaching Ancient Greek language and literature at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. I am particularly interested in linguistics, stylistics and narratologyc, cognitive theory, Functional Discourse Grammar. More specific research topics are verbal semantics (tense, aspect, mood, voice), historical linguistics (grammaticalisation), discourse analysis (particles, word order, text types, intonation units, colometry), and the linguistic and narratological aspects of Ancient Greek literature (orality, embodiment, focalisation, immersion, metalepsis).
I am the programme director of the MA Archaeology, MA Classics and Ancient Studies, and RMA Classics and Ancient Civilizations.
Further academic activities and affiliations
- Coordinator research group Language of Literature (OIKOS)
- Chair Disciplinary Team classical languages Masterlanguage
- Member International Comittee Ancient Greek Linguistics (ICAGL)
- Member Editorial Board The Language of Classical Literature (Amsterdam Studies in Classical Philology) (Brill)
- Member Editorial Board Lampas
- Member Advisory Board Mnemosyne
- Member Advisory Board HABIS (University of Seville)
- Member research group Groupe Aspect Grec (INALCO, Paris).
- Member of the board of Scholae, a joint initiative of Dutch Universities aimed at educating secondary school classics teachers
- Member Programmaraad MasterLanguage
Teaching
I teach on various subjects relating to Greek language and literature. I am currently supervising the PhD project of Joachim Kraaij ("Exposing the Sophistic Fallacy: Plato's Euthydemus. A New Critical Edition with Philological Commentary", Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, together with Prof. dr. em. Gerard Boter) and Jacob Karels ("Causal Conjunctions in Koinè Greek, with special attention to ὅτι", together with Prof. dr. Arie Zwiep).
Ancillary activities
- Stichting Studie Klassieke Talen UvA | Amsterdam | Bestuurder | 2022-04-01 - present
Ancillary activities are updated daily
Keywords
- P Language and Literature
- Linguistics, Functionalism
- Cognitive Linguistics
- Historical Linguistics
- Discourse Analysis
- Stylistics
- Narratology
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Research output
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Caesurae, Cola, and Discourse Acts: A Functional Discourse Grammar Approach to Homeric Colometry
Allan, R., 2025, Advances in Ancient Greek Linguistics. de la Villa, J., Striano, A. & Verano, R. (eds.). Trend in Classics - Greek and Latin Linguistics ed. Berlin/Munich/Boston: De Gruyter, Vol. 5. p. 609-625 17 p. (Trends in Classics – Greek and Latin Linguistics; vol. 5).Research output: Chapter in Book / Report / Conference proceeding › Chapter › Academic › peer-review
Open AccessFile10 Downloads (Pure) -
Hyperbaton and Homeric Colometry: A First Exploration
Allan, R., 2025, From Greece to Cappadocia: Ancient and Modern Greek Language Studies in Honour of Mark Janse. Bentein, K. & Bağrıaçık, M. (eds.). Berlin: De Gruyter Brill, p. 15-39 25 p. 1. (Trends in Classics - Greek and Latin Linguistics; vol. 8).Research output: Chapter in Book / Report / Conference proceeding › Chapter › Academic › peer-review
Open AccessFile3 Downloads (Pure) -
The Grammar of Immersion: A Cognitive Grammar Analysis of Immersive Narrative
Allan, R., 2024, In: DIEGESIS : Interdisziplinäres E-Journal für Erzählforschung = Interdisciplinary E-Journal for Narrative Research. 13, 2, p. 1-21 21 p., 1.Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article › Academic › peer-review
Open Access -
'A City Is Not Adorned by What Comes from Outside, but by the Virtue of Its Inhabitants’: Polybius on the Pragmatics of Spoliation
Allan, R., 2023, Reading Greek and Hellenistic-Roman Spolia: Objects, Appropiation and Cultural Change. de Jong, I. J. F. & Versluys, M. J. (eds.). Leiden/Boston: Brill, p. 108-122 15 p. (Euhormos: Greco-Roman Studies in Anchoring Innovation; vol. 5).Research output: Chapter in Book / Report / Conference proceeding › Chapter › Academic › peer-review
Open Access -
Cola and Caesurae in the Homeric Hexameter: A Functional-Cognitive Approach to Colometry
Allan, R., 2023, In: Philologia Antiqua. 16, p. 101-117 17 p.Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article › Academic › peer-review
Open AccessFile67 Downloads (Pure)
Courses
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A Cultural History of the Ancient World 2: The Hellenistic World, Italy and Rome
Allan, R. 1/09/25 → 31/08/26
Course
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Towards a Homeric Discourse Grammar. From Colon to Act.
Allan, R. (Speaker)
17 Jun 2022Activity: Lecture / Presentation › Academic
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Framing Fantasy. Uncanny Encounters in the Odyssey
Allan, R. (Speaker)
1 Jul 2022Activity: Lecture / Presentation › Academic
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Mnemosyne: A Journal of Classical Studies (Journal)
Allan, R. (Guest editor)
1 Jan 2022Activity: Peer review and Editorial work › Editorial work › Academic
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Engaged in the Battle of Gaugamela. Plutarch’s Poetics of Immersion.
Allan, R. (Speaker)
23 Jun 2022Activity: Lecture / Presentation › Academic
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“A city is not adorned by what comes from outside, but by the virtue of its inhabitants.” Polybius on the Pragmatics of Pillaging
Allan, R. (Speaker)
22 Jan 2021Activity: Lecture / Presentation › Academic