Research interests
Most generally, I’m interested in uncovering the principles that drive the grammatical organization of human languages. To this end, my work combines the analysis of patterns of intralinguistic variation (notably in large electronic corpora) with the study of cross-linguistic unity and diversity, which is the focus of modern language typology. This perspective ultimately derives from my theoretical commitment to usage-based theories of language, in which functional pressures on language performance are believed to have a crucial impact on the emergence and development of linguistic systems; hence the emphasis on combining analyses of usage and grammar.
Current research projects
Principles of linear ordering in complex sentence constructions
[funded by the German Research Foundation DFG, 2007-2010; Holger Diessel, Karsten Schmidtke-Bode and Katja Hetterle]
A typology of purpose clauses
Based on an independent research project supervised by Holger Diessel and Johanna Nichols (UC Berkeley), I have just completed a full-length treatment of purpose clauses in the world's languages. [cf. the publications section]
Sentential subjects and the typology of complementation systems
Much classic and recent typological research has investigated the morphosyntactic and semantic properties of complement clauses. However, there has been a noticeable tendency to focus on object complements, with clauses functioning as subjects being less well-studied. It will be the (preliminary) aim of my research to build a large electronic database of sentential subjects, to work out intra- and cross-linguistic patterns of variation and constraints on such clauses, to test previous hypotheses against this new database, and to 'measure' how language-specific constructions distribute in the space of clausal complementation. Moreover, subject complements will serve as an important construction type in a more general discussion of the distribution of centre-embedding and/versus extraposition in grammar(s).
Performance-grammar correspondences
This long-term project seeks to apply the 'converging-evidence method' sketched above to describe and motivate systematic matches between corpus data of individual languages and cross-linguistic distributions of grammaticalized usage conventions (in the spirit of Hawkins 2004).
Presentations and talks
Competing motivations for the linear structuring of complex sentences. [with Holger Diessel and Katja Hetterle; paper to be presented at the Workshop on Competing Motivations, MPI Leipzig, November 2010]
Linearization and syntactic structure in complex sentences. [with Holger Diessel and Katja Hetterle; paper to be presented at the Syntax of the World’s Languages IV, Lyon, September 2010]
The relationship between clausal subjects and objects in typological perspective. [paper to be presented at the 6th International Contrastive Linguistics Conference, Berlin, September 2010]
Avertive constructions: Cross-linguistic convergence in the symbolization of experience. [paper presented at the 3rd UK-Cognitive Linguistics Conference, Hatfield/GB, July 2010]
New directions in the study of diachronic change. [Linguistics Colloquium, FSU Jena, July 2010]
Typologizing sentential subject constructions. [paper presented at the 8th Biennial Conference of the Association for Linguistic Typology (ALT 8), Berkeley/USA, July 2009]
'Sentential' subjects and the typology of complementation systems. [Linguistics Colloquium, FSU Jena, July 2009]
The grammar of positive and negative purpose: Towards a usage-based typology. [inivited talk, Max-Planck-Institut für Evolutionäre Anthropologie Leipzig, June 2009]
Schreiben von Exposés und Forschungsanträgen. [invited talk, Kolloquium für empirische Fachdidaktik, FSU Jena, May 2009, May 2008]
Performance-grammar correspondences and the typology of complex sentences. [Invited talk, Research Centre of English and Applied Linguistics, University of Cambridge, UK. February 10, 2009]
The role of benefactives and related notions in the typology of purpose clauses. [paper presented at a workshop on the Typology of Benefactives and Malefactives, University of Zurich, October 25-26, 2007.]
The acquisition of English purpose clauses. [paper presented in the theme session on Language Acquisition at the International Cognitive Linguistics Conference 10 (ICLC), Krakow, July 2007.]
Principles of cross-linguistic research. [Linguistics Colloquium, FSU Jena, November 2006.]
Why students hate grammar…and why it’s actually quite interesting. An introduction to studying languages. [invited speaker, Tag der Wissenschaften, Albert-Schweizer-Gymnasium Ruhla, July 2006.]
Purpose clauses – Perspectives from language acquisition and linguistic typology. [Linguistics Colloquium, FSU Jena, May 2006.]
Professional organizations