Author: Adrian Stegovec

Chuang at AMP, ALC, and WECOL

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Jarry Chia-Wei Chuang will give three presentations at the following conferences in October and November:

  • “Contractions are not the same: Syllable merger at the interfaces of phonology” is going to be presented as a poster at the 2023 Annual Meeting on Phonology (AMP 2023, online), October 20th-22nd.
  • “Dislocation as Copying in Cyclic Linearization” is going to be given as a talk at the 17th Arizona Linguistics Circle (ALC 17), held by the University of Arizona on October 27th.
  • “Distinction of Unstressed Tones in Mandarin Chinese” is going to be given as a talk at the 2023 Western Conference on Linguistics (WECOL 2023, online), held by California State University, Fresno on November 11th-12th.

Bogomolets & Van der Hulst | OUP Monograph

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Word Prominence in Languages with Complex Morphologies co-edited by Ksenia Bogomolets (PhD 2020, now at Māori Language Commission & University of Auckland) and Harry van der Hulst has been published by Oxford University Press.

This volume focuses on the theoretical and analytical challenges that languages with complex morphologies pose for the theory and typology of word-level prosodic phenomena. The morphological complexity and phonological length that are characteristic of words in these languages make them a particularly fruitful ground for investigating the effects of both phonological and morphological factors in the assignment of prominence. The first three chapters in the volume explore general theoretical issues pertaining to word prominence in synthetic languages, including the issue of ‘wordhood’ and the empirical, theoretical, and methodological issues with delineating word-level prominence and the higher-level prosodic phenomena in these languages. These are followed by a series of case studies on stress, accent, and tone in a geographically and genetically diverse set of languages with highly synthetic morphologies including languages of the Americas, Europe and Asia, and Australia. The volume adopts an interdisciplinary perspective, combining phonetic, phonological, and morphosyntactic insights. It will be of interest not only to phonologists and morphologists, but to all those interested in the typological and theoretical issues relating to polysynthetic languages.

The volume also contains chapters written by Ksenia and Harry:

  • Ksenia Bogomolets. Accent and tone in Arapaho
  • Harry van der Hulst. A unified account of phonological and morphological accent

Van der Hulst | A Mind for Language

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A Mind for Language: An Introduction to the Innateness Debate written Harry van der Hulst has just been published by Cambridge University Press.

How does human language arise in the mind? To what extent is it innate, or something that is learned? How do these factors interact? The questions surrounding how we acquire language are some of the most fundamental about what it means to be human and have long been at the heart of linguistic theory. This book provides a comprehensive introduction to this fascinating debate, unravelling the arguments for the roles of nature and nurture in the knowledge that allows humans to learn and use language. An interdisciplinary approach is used throughout, allowing the debate to be examined from philosophical and cognitive perspectives. It is illustrated with real-life examples and the theory is explained in a clear, easy-to-read way, making it accessible for students without a background in linguistics. An accompanying website contains a glossary, questions for reflection, discussion themes and project suggestions, to further deepen students understanding of the material.

 

Goodwin & Lillo-Martin | Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Ed.

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The article “Deaf and Hearing American Sign Language–English Bilinguals: Typical Bilingual Language Development” by Corina Goodwin (PhD 2016) and Diane Lillo-Martin has just been published in The Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education (https://doi.org/10.1093/deafed/enad026). Congratulations!

Abstract: Some studies have concluded that sign language hinders spoken language development for deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) children even though sign language exposure could protect DHH children from experiencing language deprivation. Furthermore, this research has rarely considered the bilingualism of children learning a signed and a spoken language. Here we compare spoken English development in 2–6-year-old deaf and hearing American Sign Language–English bilingual children to each other and to monolingual English speakers in a comparison database. Age predicted bilinguals’ language scores on all measures, whereas hearing status was only significant for one measure. Both bilingual groups tended to score below monolinguals. Deaf bilinguals’ scores differed more from monolinguals, potentially because of later age of and less total exposure to English, and/or to hearing through a cochlear implant. Overall, these results are consistent with typical early bilingual language development. Research and practice must treat signing-speaking children as bilinguals and consider the bilingual language development literature.

UConn linguistics at BCGL

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The 16th Brussels Conference on Generative Linguistics (BCGL16) is took place October 5th-6th. This year’s conference is devoted to the morphosyntax of speaker and hearer. UConn will be represented at the conference by:

  • Ka-Fai Yip and Xuetong Yuan. Jussive agreement with non-agreeing resumptive pronouns in Mandarin Chinese
  • Vicki Carstens. Bantu Plural Addressee Suffixes and Speech Act Projections
  • Duk-Ho An (PhD 2007, now at Konkuk University). Revisiting Sentence-Final Endings in Korean: Toward an (Un)markedness System

Qi Wu | New Student

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Hello! My name is Wu Qi (u35 tɕʰɪ35, 吴琪). I grew up in Shenzhen, China, a southern coastal city where, since the last few decades, people from over the country have come with them their own dialects and traditions. Meanwhile, some part of me has been shaped by years in the north, as an undergrad studying English literature (Beijing & UK). Dealing with words created by people across different time and space calls up my enthusiasm for languages, and I went on finishing a Master’s degree in linguistics. Currently, as a PhD student, I am primarily interested in Syntax and its interface with Morphology and Pragmatics.

Besides academics, I play badminton, video games, and would like to go for trekking a little. I enjoy cooking and exploring into it, and I wish I could have some time for sketches and scribbles, movies and music. It’s such a pleasure to be able to join the department with all the wonderful people!

Tyler Poisson | New Student

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Hi, I am Tyler Poisson. I am from Western Massachusetts. Prior to UConn, I studied Linguistics and Philosophy at UMass. Afterwards, I taught 4th grade in area public schools and ran child language experiments as a member of the Smith-UMass language acquisition group. Now, I am grateful to be a graduate student at UConn!

Some activities I enjoy outside of research include reading the independent press, using open-source software, listening to pre-2000s world music, and playing pick-up soccer.

Seungho Nam | New Student

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Hi, I am Seungho Nam [nᵈam sɯŋʰo] from Seoul, Korea. I did my BA in Linguistics, Hispanic Linguistics, and Classical Latin, and my MA in Hispanic Linguistics, all at Seoul National University. My primary research interest is formal semantics, and I’m specifically interested in things like clause types, counterfactuality, modality, and tense. I wrote my MA thesis on counterfactual imperatives of Spanish and Korean.

I’m also interested in the historical linguistics of Romance languages (mostly Catalan, Spanish, and Latin), especially semantic changes, mood, and modality. Because of my experience as a Spanish teacher for about ten years, second and third language acquisition and translation are other topics that are inseparable from me.

Besides my academic interests, I love to translate, go grocery shopping, and spend some time alone. I’m also involved in the LGBT rights movement in my country as a member of the community (and here you see my interest in sociolinguistics, too).

Jiabao Fan | New Student

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My name is Jiabao Fan and I come from mainland China. I received a master’s degree in Linguistics from Soochow University this July. My primary research interests are language acquisition, syntax, formal semantics, and sentence processing. I was first attracted to the theory of first language acquisition, and after I read more books about generative grammar, I found syntactic theory and formal semantics so elegant and charming. So, I come to UConn’s linguistic department to learn more about them.

 Besides my study, I love classical literature, Japanese anime (Volleyball Juvenile is my favorite), Nintendo video games and hiking.

Chia-Wei (Jarry) Chuang | New Student

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I’m Jarry (Chia-Wei Chuang 莊家瑋), from Taipei, Taiwan. I just received my B.A. in English and Linguistics from National Chengchi University (2020-23). Currently, I serve as Student Director of Linguistic Society of Taiwan (LST) (2021-present).

My first love for linguistics is sound of language. I have conducted a great pool of studies on phonetics-phonology and morpho-phonology, paying attention to especially tonology, syllable structure, lenition, and non-native acquisition. Recently, I’ve expanded my research niche to formal syntax, syntax-phonology, and syntax-pragmatics interfaces. Left-periphery as well as tense-aspect-modality are also what I am interested in now.

My native languages are Mandarin Chinese and Southern Min. Aside from them, the languages that I study include Cantonese, Hakka, Vietnamese, and English. Exploring different languages always makes me enjoy a lot. Different as they are in form and meaning, they share the same system, which is the most exciting part for me.

In my leisure time, I love singing, chatting, cooking, shopping, and playing badminton. If you’re too, why not come along with me ([jarry.chaung@uconn.edu] [personal web]). I’ll be more than happy to have more friends with similar interests.