My linguistic interests include syntax and its interactions with morphology and semantics. I have recently been investigating the syntax of the Algonquian language Passamaquoddy with these interactions in mind; this study is represented by my Ph.D. dissertation, Syntax at the Edge: Cross-Clausal Phenomena and the Syntax of Passamaquoddy (MIT, 2001), as well as various talks and publications listed below.
Another major interest is in the brain mechanisms underlying language, which can be studied from a variety of psycholinguistic perspectives. I have been involved in several neurolinguistic studies (MEG, at MIT's magnetoencephalography lab, and ERP, at the University of Delware) and some projects on sentence processing.
Other interests that have led to talks and publications (listed below) include the nature of reflexivity; the universal semantics of reciprocals; wh-scope marking and wh-copying in the languages of the world; and the connection between morphology and phonology in Semitic languages.
Spring 2008: Ling 610, Syntax II
Spring 2008: Ling 831, The Structure of Albanian
(Note: Previous websites for Ling 101 are no longer being linked here.)
Spring 2004: Ling 610, Syntax II
Spring 2004: Ling 831, Language Typology and Documentation, with Peter Cole
Fall 2003: Ling 831, Topics in Syntax
Spring 2003: CGSC 496/696, Introduction to Psycholinguistics, with Gabrielle Hermon
Spring 2003: Ling 610, Syntax II
Fall 2002: Ling 890, Syntax-Semantics Interface, with Satoshi Tomioka
Spring 2002: Ling 610, Syntax II
Spring 2002: CGSC 496/696, Introduction to Psycholinguistics, with Irene Kramer
Fall 2001: Ling 831, Syntax Seminar: Proper and Improper Movement
2008. Selectional Asymmetries between CP and DP Suggest that the DP Hypothesis is Wrong. Talk given at PLC 32, University of Pennsylvania [Download handout (2/23/2008)]
2007. Algonquian Languages Have A-Movement and A-Agreement. To appear in Linguistic Inquiry[Download revised version (3/26/2008)]
2007. On the Word Order of Quantificational Elements in Passamaquoddy. [Download handout from a recent talk]
2007. On Diagnostics of Structural Case and the Nature of Ergative Case. [Download draft (7/2007)]
2006. Discrepancies between Projection and Selection: Split Coordination and Raising to Object in Passamaquoddy. [Download draft]
2006. Against Predicate-Based Reflexivity: Anaphors as Subjects of Embedded Clauses. [Download handout from recent talk]
2006. The Morphosyntax and Semantics of Verbal Reciprocals. [Download draft]
2004. Split Coordination in Passamaquoddy. [Download rough draft]
2004. The Algonquian Inverse is Syntactic: Binding in Passamaquoddy. [Download draft]
2003. Split Coordination and Successive-Cyclic Movement in Passamaquoddy. WECOL, University of Arizona, September 2003. [Download handout]
2001. Raising to Object and Proper Movement. [Download draft]
1999. Morphological Templates and Phonological Opacity. Talk presented at the Second Mediterranean Meeting on Morphology, University of Malta. September 1999. [Download updated handout (used in a guest lecture for a phonology class at MIT)]
2007. Wh-in-Situ Does Not Correlate with Wh-Indefinites or Question Particles. Linguistic Inquiry 38: 139--166. (Correction to page 159: Kashmiri is incorrectly described as a wh-in-situ language; it is actually a wh-movement language.)
2006. Wh-conditionals in Vietnamese and Chinese: Against Unselective Binding. With Thuan Tran (University of Delaware and University of California, San Diego). To appear in Proceedings of BLS 32. [Download PDF]
2006. Differences Between the Wh-Scope-Marking and Wh-Copy Constructions in Passamaquoddy. Linguistic Inquiry 37(1):25--49.
2005. Wh-Questions in Vietnamese. With Thuan Tran (University of Delaware). Journal of East Asian Linguistics 15(4): 319--341.
2004. Verbal Reciprocals. In T. Solstad, B. Lyngfelt, and M. F. Krave (eds.), Demoting the Agent: Proceedings of the Oslo Workshop on Passive and Other Voice-Related Phenomena. Oslo: University of Oslo, 3--12.
2004. Two Types of Wh-Scope Marking in Passamaquoddy. Natural Language and Linguistic Theory 22: 229-305.
2001. Syntax at the Edge: Cross-Clausal Phenomena and the Syntax of Passamaquoddy. Ph.D. dissertation, MIT. Distributed by MIT Working Papers in Linguistics.
2001. QR Obeys Superiority: ACD and Frozen Scope. Linguistic Inquiry 32(2):233-273. Important corrections:
2001. Configurationality and Object Shift in Algonquian. With Andrea Rackowski. In Proceedings of the Workshop on Structure and Constituency in the Languages of the Americas. Vancouver: UBCWPL, 71-83.
2001. Constraints on Dependencies in Passamaquoddy. In Papers of the 32nd Algonquian Conference. Winnipeg: The University of Manitoba.
2001. Discontinuous QPs and LF Interference Effects. With Vivian Lin (MIT). In Proceedings of SULA: The Semantics of Under-represented Languages of the Americas. UMOP 25. Amherst, Mass.: GLSA.
2001. An MEG Study of Tone Processing Asymmetries in English versus Mandarin Speakers. With Vivian Lin and Elissa Flagg (MIT). In Proceedings of NELS 31. Amherst, Mass.: GLSA, 42--56.
1999. Review of the Phonology 2000 Symposium. GLOT International 6(2).
1999. Karlos Arregi, Benjamin Bruening, Cornelia Krause, and Vivian Lin, eds., MIT Working Papers in Linguistics vol. 33, Papers on Morphology and Syntax, Cycle One. Cambridge, MA: MIT Working Papers in Linguistics. [TOC]
1999. Vivian Lin, Cornelia Krause, Benjamin Bruening, and Karlos Arregi, eds., MIT Working Papers in Linguistics vol. 34, Papers on Morphology and Syntax, Cycle Two. Cambridge, MA: MIT Working Papers in Linguistics.[ TOC]
1997. Editor, MIT Working Papers in Linguistics vol. 31, Proceedings of the Eighth Student Conference in Linguistics. (SCIL 8 held May 1996 at NYU.) Cambridge, MA: MIT Working Papers in Linguistics. [ TOC]
1997. Editor, with Martha McGinnis and Yoonjung Kang, MIT Working Papers in Linguistics vol. 30, PF: Papers at the Interface. Cambridge, MA: MIT Working Papers in Linguistics. [ TOC]
1997. What are Secondary Predicates? Evaluating the Syntax of Adjunction. In Proceedings of the North West Linguistics Conference. University of British Columbia Linguistics Department.
1997. Abkhaz-Mabkhaz: M-Reduplication in Abkhaz, Weightless Syllables, and Base-Reduplicant Correspondence. In B. Bruening, M. McGinnis, and Y. Kang (Eds.), PF: Papers at the Interface. MIT Working Papers in Linguistics vol. 30. Cambridge, MA: MIT Working Papers in Linguistics.
WOODWORKING: In my spare time I build furniture and other things out of wood. View some of my projects here.