Lal Zimman

Zimman received his BA in Philosophy and MA in English with a Linguistics concentration from San Francisco State University. He received his PhD in linguistics from University of Colorado at Boulder in 2012 where he worked under Kira Hall.[2] His dissertation, Voices in Transition: Testosterone, Transmasculinity, and the Gendered Voice among Female-to-Male Transgender People, used both ethnographic and sociophonetic methods to explore the effects of hormone therapy on the voices of trans men.[3]

Zimman's work has been influential in developing the field of trans linguistics.[4][5] He has been widely recognized for his work on inclusive language reform and activism,[6][7][8] the relationship between the body, biological sex, and the voice,[9][10] and pronouns and singular they.[11][12]

Zimman is currently assistant professor of Linguistics & Affiliated Faculty in Feminist Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara. He is also General Editor for Studies in Language, Gender, and Sexuality for Oxford University Press.[1]

In 2014, Zimman published a co-edited volume, Queer Excursions: Retheorizing Binaries in Language, Gender, and Sexuality (published by Oxford University Press), which won the Association for Queer Anthropology's Ruth Benedict Prize.[13]

He has taught several classes on Sociocultural Linguistics, Language, Gender & Sexuality, and Sociophonetics.[1] He has been interviewed for programs such as The Vocal Fries podcast.[10]

Zimman was raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. Zimman is transgender and uses he or they pronouns.[14]

• Zimman, Lal (2019). Trans self-identification and the language of neoliberal selfhood: Agency, power, and the limits of monologic discourse. International Journal of the Sociology of Language 256(1):147-175.
• Zimman, Lal (2018). Pronouns and possibilities: Transgender language activism and reform. In Netta Avineri, Robin Conley, Laura R. Graham, Eric Johnson & Jonathan Rosa (Eds.), Language and Social Justice: Case Studies on Communication & the Creation of Just Societies. New York: Routledge. 176–183.
• Zimman, Lal (2018) Transgender voices: Insights on identity, embodiment, and the gender of the voice. Language and Linguistics Compass 12(7):e12284.
• Zimman, Lal (2018) Working with Transgender Communities. In Christine Mallinson, Becky Childs, & Gerard Van Herk (Eds.), Data Collection in Sociolinguistics: Methods and Applications. New York: Routledge. 49–52.
• Zimman, Lal (2014). The discursive construction of sex: Remaking and reclaiming the gendered body in talk about genitals among trans men. In Lal Zimman, Joshua Raclaw, and Jenny Davis (eds.), Queer Excursions: Retheorizing Binaries in Language, Gender, and Sexuality. Oxford University Press. 13–34.
• Davis, Jenny, Lal Zimman, and Joshua Raclaw (2014). Opposites attract: Retheorizing binaries in language, gender, and sexuality. In Lal Zimman, Jenny Davis, & Joshua Raclaw (Eds.), Queer Excursions: Retheorizing Binaries in Language, Gender, and Sexuality. Oxford University Press. 1–12.
• Edelman, Elijah & Lal Zimman (2014). Boycunts and bonus holes: Discourse about transmasculine bodies and the sexual productivity of genitals. Journal of Homosexuality 61(5):673-690. Special issue on Trans Sexualities, edited by Carla A. Pfeffer.
• Zimman, Lal (2013). Hegemonic masculinity and the variability of gay-sounding speech: The perceived sexuality of transgender men. Journal of Language & Sexuality2(1):1-39.
• Zimman, Lal & Kira Hall (2009). Language, embodiment, and the "third sex". In Dominic Watt and Carmen Llamas (eds.), Language and Identities. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. 166–178.
• Zimman, Lal (2009). "The other kind of coming out": Transgender people and the coming out narrative genre. Gender and Language 3(1):53-80.