¡Hola!

I am Elena. I am an Assistant Professor (profesora ayudante doctora) in the Department of Linguistics at Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, where I specialize in computational linguistics and natural language processing. My research interests lie at the intersection of language and technology, specifically using computational methods to study language contact, lexical borrowing and linguistic change over time. As part of this work, I developed Observatorio Lázaro, a continuous pipeline that monitors the Spanish press daily and has cataloged over 1.8 million instances of anglicisms since 2020.

I hold a MS in Computational Linguistics from Brandeis University and a PhD in NLP from UNED NLP&IR research group, where I focused on lexical borrowing identification under the supervision of Julio Gonzalo and Constantine Lignos. Prior to that, I worked for a decade as a language technology specialist at institutions such as the Information Sciences Institute at the University of Southern California, Fundéu, Molino de Ideas and UNED Digital Humanities Lab.

My research has been recognized and supported by several institutions. I am the recipient of the Adam Kilgarriff Prize (2022), the Generation Google Scholarship for Women in Computer Science (2021), the Premio HDH (2021), and a LaCaixa Scholarship (2018). I am also an honorary member (socia de honor) of ASETRAD.

In addition to my academic research, I am actively involved in public outreach and science communication. I write a regular language column for the Spanish newspaper elDiario.es, for which I received the Miguel Delibes National Journalism Award (Premio Nacional de Periodismo Miguel Delibes) in 2017. I also serve on the editorial board of the linguistics magazine Archiletras, where I am a regular contributor.

I am also actively involved in public outreach and science communication to make linguistics accessible to non-specialized audiences. I write for the Spanish national newspaper elDiario.es and for linguistics magazine Archiletras. I am also the author of the popular science book Anatomía de la Lengua (Larousse, 2016). From 2012 to 2015, I served as a weekly linguistics contributor on Spanish National Radio (Radio Nacional de España), with a section about linguistics. Some of my early essays are available on my old blog.

Selected Columns at elDiario.es

I have published more than 70 columns since 2017 for elDiario.es, covering topics on language change, linguistic purism, grammar, and the lexicon. My column Metáforas peligrosas. El cáncer como lucha, which explores how metaphors shape medical discourse and public perception of illness, was awarded the Miguel Delibes National Journalism Award (Premio Nacional de Periodismo Miguel Delibes) in 2017. Additionally, my piece ¿El covid o la covid? was selected as text for the commentary section at Catalonia’s university entrance exams (EvAU) in 2021.

Here is a selection of columns I am particularly proud of:

• ‘Sólo’ y la tilde de la nostalgia (2017)
• Nadie hablará de nosotras cuando nos eliminen del diccionario (2017)
• Lenguaje inclusivo: algunas claves lingüísticas (2021)
• ¿Para qué sirven las lenguas? (2021)
• Todos decimos ‘mamá’ (2022)
• La biblioteca está en llamas y los sabios no han llegado (2024)

Editorial work & interviews at Archiletras

I serve on the editorial board of the linguistics magazine Archiletras, where I write pieces challenging language purism and debunking linguistics myths. I have also interviewed prominent figures in the field, including Noam Chomsky, Ignacio Bosque, Gretchen McCulloch, Felisa Verdejo, Juan Carlos Moreno Cabrera, and Olimpia Andrés.