Patrick HEINRICH

I am a sociolinguist focused on the languages of Japan. My research extends beyond sociolinguistics to include the history of linguistics, language ideology, language endangerment, and urban communication. I have institutional experience in Germany, Japan, and Italy. I publish and teach mostly in English, but I also speak German, Japanese, French, and Italian. I have been fortunate to study with and owe a huge intellectual debt to my mentors, who include Florian Coulmas, Jiří Neustupný, Fumio Inoue, Shinsho Miyara, and Josef Kreiner, and I enjoy collaborating on research and writing with scholars worldwide. In teaching, I strive to share the joy of studying. For more information about me, please refer to the listing below. 

Academic training

1998: MA in Linguistics and Japanese Studies (Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf, Germany)

2002: Dr. phil. in Japanese Studies (Gerhard-Mercator-University Duisburg, Germany)

2005: Habilitation thesis in Japanese Studies (Duisburg-Essen University, Germany)

Employment and full-time scholarships

1998–1999: Research assistant, Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf

2000–2001: PhD scholarship by DAAD

2001–2006: Assistant professor, Duisburg-Essen University

2006–2008: Associate professor, Duisburg-Essen University

2008–2010: JSPS/Humboldt fellow, University of the Ryukyus

2010–2013: Associate Professor, Dokkyo University

2013–2014: Professor, Dokkyo University

2014–2021: Associate Professor, Ca‘ Foscari University of Venice

Since 2021: Professor, Ca‘ Foscari University of Venice

Editorial boards

Associate Editor: East Asian Pragmatics (University of Toronto Press)

Editorial Board: The Endangered Language Yearbook (Brill), Contemporary Japan (Taylor & Francis), Current Issues in Language Planning (Taylor & Francis), International Quarterly of Asian Studies (Heidelberg University Press), Kotoba to shakai (Sangensha),  Études japonaises (L’Université Toulouse – Jean Jaurès), Journal of Arabic Sociolinguistics (Edinburgh University Press)

Fellowships

Since 2016: University of Hokkaido: lecturer at the annual summer school

2026: Visiting professor University of Toulouse Jean-Jaurès

2025: Erasmus teacher exchange: University of Ljubljana

2019: Erasmus teacher exchange: University of Vienna

2016: Erasmus teacher exchange: University of Helsinki

2016: Visiting professor: Duisburg-Essen University

2015: Fellow: University of Lapland

2013: Visiting professor: University of Toulouse Jean-Jaurès

2010–2013: Fellow: Gakushuin University

2008–2010: Fellow: Okinawa International University

2006–2013: Fellow: Hosei University

2004: Visiting Fellow: Tokyo University of Foreign Studies

Research Impact

Google Scholar: Citations: 1600+ / h-index 21 / i10-index 43

Researchgate: 700+, 70,000+ reads

Awards

2020: Honorary President, Ryukyuan Heritage Language Society

2014: Honorary member, Foundation for Endangered Languages

2010: Tokugawa Award, Japanese Association for Sociolinguistic Sciences

2002: Annual Award of the Duisburg University Society: Best Dissertation of the Year

Recent and forthcoming presentations (since 2024)

23.09.2025: Invited lecture: Language endangerment and well-being in Japan. University of Vienna.

13.09.2025 Commentator on the panel: Language repression and reclamation: What needs to be done? What can be done? International Conference on the Revitalization of Indigenous and Minoritized Languages. Kyoto University.

13.09.2025 Panel presentation: Language and well-being from a Welfare Linguistics perspective. International Conference on the Revitalization of Indigenous and Minoritized Languages. Kyoto University.13.09.2025 Keynote lecture: Language and well-being in Yomitan Village and Setouchi Town: A Contrastive Analysis. International Conference on the Revitalization of Indigenous and Minoritized Languages. Kyoto University.

05.05.2025 Decolonizing toponymic systems in the Japanese Archipelago. Symposium on Environmental Humanities. Ca’Foscari University of Venice.

26.02.2025 Invited lecture: What is lost in language loss in Japan? Ljubljana University.

15.12.2024 Workshop: Reclaiming endangered languages in a welfare linguistics framework. 20th Linguapax Asia Symposium. Hiroshima Eikei University.

14.12.2024 Keynote lecture: Language as a relational good: Language and well-being in the Ryukyu Islands. 20th Linguapax Asia Symposium. Hiroshima Eikei University. 

05.08. – 09.08.2024 Intensive course: The sociolinguistics of language and well-being. Sapporo: Hokkaido University.

05.03.2024 Invited lecture: Multilingualism in Japan: Transformational Changes. University of Tokyo.