About
Phil leads the School of Language and Scripture, a collaboration with Wycliffe Bible Translators that started in 2019. He is the course leader for the MA Language, Community and Development.
Following a Master’s degree in mathematics, Phil joined Wycliffe Bible Translators for a short term project to provide linguistic support to translators in Papua New Guinea. This grew into 15 years developing and delivering training in biblical studies (particularly Hebrew), translation and linguistics to Papua New Guinean Bible translators, completing a PhD in Hebrew semantics along the way.
Phil is married with two teenage children.
Teaching
- Introduction to linguistics
- Patterns and approaches in linguistic analysis
- Meaning and communication
- Translation
Publications
- Surrounded by Bitterness: Image Schemas and Metaphors for Conceptualizing Distress in Classical Hebrew. Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock, 2012.
- ‘Ladders and Wheels: Comparing Metaphors for Bible Translation in the Era of Sustainability’ The Bible Translator, 2018.
- ‘Perspectives on Translating YHWH in Papua New Guinea’ The Bible Translator, 2014.
- ‘Papua New Guinean Sweet Talk: Metaphors from the Domain of Taste’ in Language Endangerment, Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 2015.
- ‘Metaphor and Methodology for Cross-cultural Investigation of Hebrew Emotions’ Journal of Translation, 2012.
- ‘Linguistic Reflections on Teaching Hebrew in a Melanesian Context’ Language and Linguistics in Melanesia, 2012.
Research interests
Phil loves thinking about how we communicate, and the interaction between our thoughts and the language we use. His research applies this to investigating how conceptual metaphors are relevant for Bible translation – whether in the world of the text or of contemporary readers – and more recently has included Bible translation into sign languages.
