I became interested in the structure and historical development of Spanish and other Romance languages when I was a student majoring in Spanish at Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio (A.B., 1974).   A study-abroad experience in Bogotá, Colombia (1972-1973) served to deepen this interest; and in 1974 I began graduate study in Hispanic linguistics at Indiana University, Bloomington, where I received an M.A. (1975) in Spanish linguistics and a Ph.D. (1981) in Hispanic linguistics with a dissertation (Preliterary Catalan Historical Phonology) directed by the distinguished scholar of Spanish and Catalan linguistics, Josep Roca-Pons (Barcelona, 1914-2000).  My graduate work at Indiana University was complemented by study and research in both Madrid (1975-1976) and Barcelona (1978-1979), Spain.   

Upon completion of my doctorate I taught Spanish and Catalan language and linguistics at Indiana University, Bloomington as a Visiting Assistant Professor (1981-1982); and from 1982 to 1984 I taught Spanish language and linguistics as Assistant Professor of Spanish at the University of New Hampshire, Durham.  I joined the faculty of Vanderbilt University in 1984 as Assistant Professor of Spanish where I was promoted to Associate Professor in 1988 and to Professor in 1994.  At Vanderbilt I teach courses on Spanish linguistics (Phonology, Morphology and Syntax, Dialectology, History of the Spanish Language); a class with an historical as well as a sociolinguistic approach on the Languages of Spain (Castilian [Spanish], Catalan, Basque and Galician); a graduate seminar on Ibero-Romance Philology; as well as classes on  Catalan language and culture.

My research has focused upon Catalan historical phonology; the edition and linguistic analysis of early medieval Catalan documents of a non-literary nature; the history and linguistic legacy of the Minorcan colony established in 18th-century New Smyrna and St. Augustine, Florida; as well as Catalan toponomastics.   I have published seven books to date, two of which received the prestigious "Crítica Serra d'Or" award:  Estudis sobre la fonologia del català preliterari (1982), and Els menorquins de la Florida: història, llengua i cultura (1987), the latter of which also was awarded the "Premi de Recerca de la Institució de les Lletres Catalanes" in 1988.  My most recent book is El català antic (2006).  In the 1990s I collaborated with Professor Joan Coromines (Barcelona, 1905-1997) in the preparation of his monumental Onomasticon Cataloniae: Els Noms de Lloc i Noms de Persona de Totes les Terres de Llengua Catalana, 8 vols. (1989-1997), a complete etymological study of both modern and historical place names found in the Catalan linguistic territory.  I am currently working on a book concerning Professor Coromines' linguistic fieldwork conducted in Catalan-speaking Roussillon, France (1959-1960).  In addition, I have published approximately 250 articles in professional journals and scholarly volumes, including about 150 article-entries in the aforementioned Onomasticon Cataloniae, some of which were written in collaboration with Joan Coromines, Joseph Gulsoy or Joan Ferrer.

In 1997 I was named a corresponding member of the Institut d'Estudis Catalans (Secció Filològica), the official academy of the Catalan language.  I am also a corresponding member of the Institut Menorquí d'Estudis (since 1993) as well as of the Reial Acadèmia de Bones Lletres de Barcelona (since 2004), and I currently serve as vice president of the Associació Internacional de Llengua i Literatura Catalanes (AILLC).