Research Bio

Terry Regier is a cognitive scientist and linguist whose research investigates language, meaning, and cognition. He is best known for his work exploring word meanings across languages, examining how word meanings reflect and sometimes shape thought and perception. Regier’s lab integrates computational modeling, cross-linguistic data, and behavioral experiments to study universals and variation in semantic domains such as color, kinship, number, and spatial relations. His research contributes to understanding how languages evolve, and how language and cognition are influenced by cultural diversity.

He is Professor of Linguistics and Cognitive Science at UC Berkeley and directs the Language and Cognition Lab. His publications have appeared in PNAS, Science, Cognition, and elsewhere. Regier has received NSF and NIH support for his interdisciplinary work. At Berkeley, he teaches courses on language and cognition and on computational linguistics, mentoring students in computational modeling and cross-language research.

Research Expertise and Interest

language and thought, computational linguistics, semantic universals, lexical semantics