Aldo Berrios Castillo

Biography

Background

A PhD student in Linguistics and English Language interested in Historical Linguistics, the diachronic interaction between phonology and morphology as well as language revitalisation of Mapudungun, a language spoken in the Southern Cone of South America. Recipient of a Becas Chile scholarship granted by ANID (Chilean Government).  

Qualifications

  • 2023 Master in Applied Linguistics (Universidad de Concepción)
  • 2002 English-Spanish Translator (Universidad Católica de Valparaíso)

Responsibilities & affiliations

- Organiser of WILLOW (Ex-NILA) reading group - https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/willow/

- Founder and organiser of ETHL, Edinburgh Theoretical Historical Linguistics -  https://ethl.uk/

Undergraduate teaching

  • 2026 – Tutor for Linguistics and English Language 2D: Cross-linguistic Variation; Limits and Theories
  • 2025 – Course lecturer for Historical Phonology (Honours & MSc)
  • 2025 – Tutor for Linguistics and English Language 2A: Linguistic Theory and the Structure of English
  • 2024 – Tutor for Linguistics and English Language 2D: Cross-linguistic Variation; Limits and Theories

Guest lectures

  • Berríos, A. (2026, March 25). Guest Lecturer for Language Endangerment and Revitalisation (Honours & MSc), taught by Dr Amalia Skilton, to give a lecture entitled “The role of people vs. documents in revitalisation: How can revitalisation practitioners use language documentation?”

  • Berríos, A. (2023, November 27). N’emülkawe: A learner’s dictionary for Mapudungun. Invited speaker at the lecture Minority Languages II, taught by Dr Maria Mazzoli, University of Groningen (NL).

  • Berríos, A. (2023, November 6). Invited speaker at the lecture Structure of a Language : Mapudungun, taught by Dr Ben Molineaux, University of Edinburgh (UK).

Research summary

I am interested in the historical trajectories of Mapudungun (ISO: ARN) phonology and morphology. Since Mapudungun is considered a language isolate, different techniques are used to unveil the ancestral stages of the language. I am currently studying morphophonological alternations that affect certain roots. By applying what is called internal reconstruction in Historical Linguistics, as well as the assumptions and predictions of particular linguistic frameworks, my objective is to trace ancestral phonological trajectories.

Current research interests

Mapudungun Morphophonology Historical Linguistics

Past research interests

Language revitalisation of Mapudungun

Conference details

  • Berríos, A., Honeybone, P. & Molineaux, B. (2026, Sept 09). Phonotactic change: the emergence of a coda constraint in Mapudungun. Talk at the Linguistics Association of Great Britain (LAGB) Annual Conference 2026) Special interest panel: What is/are phonotactics?.

  • Molineaux, B., Berríos, A., Engels, J. & Domínguez, V. (2026, Sept 08-10). Mapudungun: LAGB Language Tutorial. Language tutorial at the LAGB Annual Conference 2026).

  • Berríos, A. (2026, June 23). Theoretical Historical Linguistics & Minoritised Languages. Talk at the Edinburgh Theoretical Historical Linguistics Summer School 2026 (ETHL).

  • Berríos, A. (2026, June 18). Kɨ-allomorphy in Mapudungun: Morphology between the lexicon and phonology. Talk at the Phonomorphology at the Interface Workshop, during the 22nd International Morphology Meeting (18-19 June 2026). Budapest, Hungary.

  • Berríos, A. (2025, December 02). Kɨ-allomorphy in Mapudungun. From ‘stuff’, to affix, to suppletion. Poster presentation at The Seventh Edinburgh Symposium on Historical Phonology, University of Edinburgh, Scotland.

  • Molineaux, B. & Berríos, A. (2025, October 15). A grapho-phonological history of the ‘sixth vowel’ in Mapudungun: Epenthesis, stress and rule inversion. Presentation at the Autumn 2025 Catchup Sessions, Angus McIntosh Centre for Historical Linguistics, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK.

  • Berríos, A. (2025, September 12). Alomorfía de -küle, y otros sufijos flexivos, en mapudungun [Allomorphy of ‑küle and other inflectional suffixes in Mapudungun]. Talk at the on-line event ABRALIN & SOCHIL: vozes que aproximam saberes.

  • Berríos, A. (2025, August 19). Origin, trajectory and deactivation of a phonological process: tracing the root-consonant alternation in Mapudungun. Talk at ICHL27 (International Conference on Historical Linguistics), Santiago, Chile.

  • Molineaux, B. & Berríos, A. (2025, August 19). A grapho-phonological history of the 'sixth vowel' in Mapudungun: Epenthesis, stress and rule inversion. Talk at ICHL27 (International Conference on Historical Linguistics). Santiago, Chile.

  • Berríos, A. (2025, July 2). Lanzamiento del libro Pu Mapuche ñi N’Emül’. Una Introducción al Estudio de la Lengua Mapuche[Book Launch: Pu Mapuche ñi N’emül’. An introduction to the study of the Mapuche language]. Talk at the Universidad de La Frontera, Temuco, Chile. Organized by Ediciones FECSH UFRO.

  • Berríos, A. (2025, June 5). K-Allomorphy in Mapudungun: the case of stative -(kɨ)le. Talk for the Linguistics and English Language Postgraduate Conference 2025, University of Edinburgh.

  • Berríos, A. (2025, May 29). K-POP* Allomorphy: On the status of -k in Mapudungun Morphophonology. Poster presentation at the PPLS Research Day 2025 Programme, University of Edinburgh, Scotland, UK. [* k-Phonologically-Oriented Phenomena]

  • Berríos, A. (2025, February 7). Today’s irregular morphology is yesterday’s regular phonology: […] the complex verbal morphology of Mapudungun. Talk at the 22nd Old-World Conference in Phonology, University of Amsterdam.

  • Berríos, A. (2024, December 5). La morfología del presente es la fonología del pasado: Estudio del surgimiento de las irregularidades morfológicas en mapudungun a partir de procesos fonológicos ancestrales [The Morphology of the Present is the Phonology of the Past: A Study of the Emergence of Morphological Irregularities in Mapudungun from Ancestral Phonological Processes], Jornadas de estudios lingüísticos internacionales SOCHIL-SAEL 2024: Primeras jornadas transcordillera SOCHIL-SAEL online.

  • Berrios, A. (2024, October 10). Tañi chumken kiñe antü mew: Una experiencia pedagógica en contexto universitario [Reporting a Pedagogical experience at the University level]. Talk for the VII Coloquio sobre Enseñanza y Aprendizaje de la lengua mapuche, Universidad de la Frontera. PDF

  • Berrios, A. (2024, August 28). From regular phonology to irregular morphology: An amphichronic study of the alternation of causative -(ɨ)m in Mapudungun. Talk for the 2024 Annual Meeting of the LAGB, Newcastle University. PDF

  • Berrios, A. (2024, June 4). From regular phonology to irregular morphology: An amphichronic study of the alternation of causative -(ɨ)m in Mapudungun. Talk for the 30th Linguistics and English Language Postgraduate Conference, at The University of Edinburgh. Slides PDF

  • Berrios, A. (2024, April 29). Mapudungun: Sociolinguistis, Research and Revitalisation. Talks for the micro-conference entitled Researching and Revitalising Minoritised Isolates: the cases of Mapudungun and Euskera, organised by A. Berrios & I. Urrestarazu-Porta, at The University of Edinburgh. Slides PDF

  • Berrios, A. (2024, April 25-26). From regular phonology to irregular morphology: An amphichronic study of the alternation of causative - (ɨ)m in Mapudungun. Talk for the 11th Manchester Forum in LInguistics (MFiL 2024), at The University of Manchester. Slides PDF

  • Berrios, A. (2024, February 6). The history of the - (ɨ)m causative in Mapudungun: from regular phonology to irregular morphology. Talk for the AMC Catchup Sessions. Slides PDF

  • Berríos, A. (2023, May 23-25). Frecuencia fonemática del mapudungun. [Conference Session] XXIII Congreso internacional de la Sociedad Chilena de Lingüística, Facultad de Educación de la Universidad Católica Silva Henríquez, Santiago, Chile. Slides PDF

  • Berríos, A. (2022). Frecuencia fonemática del mapudungun. [Conference Session] 8vas Jornadas Nacionales de Fonética Humberto Valdivieso, Universidad de Concepción. Slides PDF

  • Berríos, A. (2021). Características acústicas de la reducción del grupo /ej/ asociado a procesos morfofonológicos del mapuzugun. [Conference Session] I Congreso Nacional de Estudiantes de Postgrado en Lingüística de Chile, Santiago de Chile. Slides PDF

Organiser

  • Organiser of Researching and Revitalising Minoritised Isolates: the cases of Mapudungun and Euskera at The University of Edinburgh, 29 April 2024

  • Committee member of the Linguistics and English Language Postgraduate Conference 2024 at the University of Edinburgh, 3-5 June 2024 - https://pgc.lel.ed.ac.uk/archive/2024/

  • Committee member of the Linguistics and English Language Postgraduate Conference 2025 at the University of Edinburgh, 4-6 June 2025 - https://pgc.lel.ed.ac.uk

Books and Chapters

  • Painequeo, J., Salamanca, G. & Berríos, A. (2024). Pu Mapuche ñi N´emül´: Una introducción al estudio de la lengua mapuche. Ariadna Ediciones

  • Berríos, A., & Inostroza, M.-J. (2025). Experiencia de enseñanza de mapudungun en contexto universitario: Tañi chumken kiñe antü mew. In C. D. Vargas, C. S. Campos, & E. Q. Llancao (Eds.), La enseñanza de lenguas y culturas originarias: Desafíos y oportunidades para la educación del siglo XXI (1st ed., pp. 175–190). Ediciones Universidad de Concepción.

  • Berríos, A., Namuncura, A. & Carilaf, V. (forthcoming). Kimeltuwe witrañpüramtuael mapuzungun: un espacio de enseñanza para levantar el mapuzungun. En Malvestitti, M. & A. Olate. La lengua mapuche en Gulumapu y Puelmapu: Avances e intersecciones en los estudios lingüísticos, la enseñanza y los activismos. Editoriales UFRO y UNRN.

Other publications

  • Berríos, A. (2026, May). Phoneme Frequency in Mapudungun: a report. Edinburgh Research Archive.

  • Berríos, A. (2026, April). Mapudungun: A Concise Language Profile. Edinburgh Research Archive.

  • Berríos, A. (2023). Esbozo Gramatical del Mapudungun. Fiwfiw ñi Dungun.

  • Berríos, A., Urrea, P., Pichún, H., Gutiérrez, C., Llancapan, L. y Guíñez, M. (2023). Mapudungun: Gramática básica ilustrada. Fiwfiw ñi Dungun.

 

 

This article was published on