- Education
1977-1985.  Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Cambridge, Massachusetts.
- 1985. Ph.D. in Linguistics.
1981. B.S. in Philosophy;
        an interdisciplinary degree in Cognitive Science with a concentration in Psychology.
1980. B.S. in Mathematics.
- Experience
-
-
2004-         Professor II, Rutgers University
                (Department of Linguistics & Center for Cognitive Science)
2005.         Faculty, 63rd LSA Linguistic Institute, MIT
1998-2004. Professor I, Rutgers University
                (Department of Linguistics & Center for Cognitive Science)
2003.         Faculty, 62th LSA Linguistic Institute, Michigan State University
1999.         Faculty, 60th LSA Linguistic Institute, University of Illinois
1997-1998. Professor, McGill University
1992-1997. Associate Professor, McGill University
1995.         Faculty, 58th LSA Linguistic Institute, University of New Mexico
1993-1994. Fellow, Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences
1992.         Visiting Professor (summer session), University of Ottawa
1986-1992. Assistant Professor, McGill University
1985-1986. Instructor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
1983-1984. Teaching Assistant, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Publications
Books:
- 2005. Lexical Categories: Verbs, Nouns and Adjectives.
        Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. (338 pp.)
2001. The Atoms of Language.
        Basic Books, New York. (276 pp.)
1996. The Polysynthesis Parameter.
        Oxford University Press, New York. (556 pp.)
1988. Incorporation: A Theory of Grammatical Function Changing.
        University of Chicago Press, Chicago. (543 pp.)
- Refereed Journal Articles:
- To appear. "Linkers and the Internal Structure of vP."
                Natural Language and Linguistic Theory. (with C. Collins.)
In press.    "On Verb-Initial and Verb-Final Word Orders in Lokaa."
                Journal of African Languages and Linguistics.
2005.        "Two Types of Noun Incorporation: Noun Incorporation in Mapudungun and
                its Typological Implications."
                 Language 81, 139-177. (with R. Aranovich and L. Golluscio.)
2005.        "Mapping the Terrain of Language Acquisition."
                Language Learning and Development 1, 93-129.
2003.        "On Directionality and the Structure of the Verb Phrase: Evidence from Nupe."
                Syntax 6, 115-155. (with J. Kandybowicz.)
2003.        "Language Differences and Language Design."
                Trends in Cognitive Sciences 7, 349-353.
2002.        "Building and Merging, not Checking: the Nonexistence of (Aux)-S-V-O Languages."
                Linguistic Inquiry 33, 321-329.
1998.        "Events, Times, and Mohawk Inflectional Morphology."
                Canadian Journal of Linguistics 43, 149-203. (with L. Travis.)
1997.        "Mood as Verbal Definiteness in a 'Tenseless' Language."
                Natural Language Semantics 5, 213-269. (with L. Travis.)
1992.        "Unmatched Chains and the Representation of Plural Pronouns."
                Natural Language Semantics 1, 43-83.
1992.        "Morphological Classes and Grammatical Organization."
                Yearbook in Morphology 4, 89-106.
1991.        "On Some Subject/Object Nonasymmetries in Mohawk."
                Natural Language and Linguistic Theory 9, 537-576.
1990.        "Relativized Minimality and Pronoun Incorporation."
                Linguistic Inquiry 21, 289-297. (with K. Hale.)
1989.        "Object Sharing and Projection in Serial Verb Constructions."
                Linguistic Inquiry 20, 513-543.
1989.        "Passive Arguments Raised."
                Linguistic Inquiry 20, 219-251. (with K. Johnson and I. Roberts.)
1988.        "Theta Theory and the Syntax of Applicative Constructions in Chichewa."
                Natural Language and Linguistic Theory 6, 353-389.
1998.        "On Morphological and Syntactic Objects:
                A Review of Di Sciullo and Williams On the Definition of Word."
                Yearbook in Morphology 1, 9-32.
1985.        "The Mirror Principle and Morphosyntactic Explanation."
                Linguistic Inquiry 16, 373-415.
- Collective works (invited participant):
- 2005.        "The innate Endowment for Language: Overspecified or Underspecified."
                In P. Carruthers, S. Laurence and S. Stitch (eds.) The Innate Mind:
                Structure and Contents.Oxford University Press, Oxford.
2003.        "Agreement, Dislocation and Partial Configurationality."
                in A. Carnie, H. Harley and M. Willie (eds.) Formal Approaches to Function.
                John Benjamins, Amsterdam, 107-134.
2002.        "On Category Asymmetries in Derivational Morphology."
                in S. Bendjaballah, W. Dressler, O.E. Pfeiffer and M.D. Voeikova (eds.) Morphology 2000.
                John Benjamins, Amsterdam, 17-36.
2002.        "Phrase Structure as a Representation of "Primitive" Grammatical Relations."
                in W. Davies and S. Dubinsky (eds.) Objects and Other Subjects.
                Kluwer, Dordrecht, 21-52.
2001.        "Syntax."
                in M. Aronoff and R. Miller (eds.) Handbook of Linguistics.
                Basil Blackwell, Oxford, 407-438.
2001.        "The Natures of Nonconfigurationality."
                in M. Baltin and C. Collins (eds.) Handbook of Syntax.
                Basil Blackwell, Oxford, 407-438.
2001.        "Nonconfigurationality and Polysynthesis."
                in M. Haspelmath et al. (eds.) Language Typology and Language Universals:
                An International Handbook. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin, 2: 1433-1442.
1999.        "Externam Possession in Mohawk: Noun Incorporation and Argument Structure."
                in D. Payne and I. Barshi (eds.) External Possession.
                John Benjamins, Amsterdam, 293-324.
1999.        "Clitic Climbing and the Boundedness of Head Movement."
                in H. van Reimsdijk (ed.) Clitics in the Languages of Europe.
                Mouton de Gruyter, Berlin, 369-373.
1999.        "Polysynthesis."
                in R. Wilson and F. Kiel (eds.) MIT Encyclopedia of Cognitive Science.
                MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 654-655.
1998.        "Comments on the Paper by Sadock."
                in S. Lapointe, D. Brentari and P. Farrell (eds.) Morphology and Its Relation
                to Phonology and Syntax. CSLI Publications, Stanford, 188-212.
1997.        "Thematic Roles and Syntactic Structure."
                in L. Haegeman (ed.) Elements of Grammar.
                Kluwer, Dordrecht, 73-137.
1997.        "Complex Predicates and Agreement in Polysynthetic Languages."
                in A. Alsina, J. Bresnan and P. Sells (eds.) Complex Predicates.
                CSLI Publications, Stanford, 249-290.
1996.        "On the Structural Position of Themes and Goals."
                in J. Rooryck and L. Zaring (eds.) Phrase Structure and the Lexicon.
                Kluwer, Dordrecht, 7-34.
1995.        "On the Absence of Certain Quantifiers in Mohawk."
                in E. Bach, E. Jelinek, A. Kratzer and B. Partee (eds.)
                Quantification in Natural Language. Kluwer, Dordrecht, 21-58.
1995.        "Lexical and Nonlexical Noun Incorporation."
                in U. Egli et al. (eds.) Lexical Knowledge in the Organizatino of Language.
                John Benjamins, Amsterdam, 3-33.
1993.        "Noun Incorporation and the Nature of Linguistic Representation."
                in W. Foley (ed.) The Role of Theory in Language Description.
                Mouton de Gruyter, Berlin, 13-44.
1992.        "Thematic Conditions on Syntactic Structures: Evidence from Locative Applicatives."
                in I. Roca (ed.) Thematic Structure: Its Role in Grammar.
                Foris, Dordrecht, 23-46.
1991.        "On the Relation between Serialization and Verb Extensions."
                in C. Lefebvre (ed.) Serial Verbs: Grammatical, Comparative and Cognitive Approaches.
                John Benjamins, Amsterdam, 79-102.
1989.        "Elements of a Typology of Applicatives in Bantu."
                in J. Hutchinson and V. Manfredi (eds.) Current Approaches to African Linguistics 7.
                Foris, Dordrecht, 111-124.
1988.        "Morphology and Syntax: an Interlocking Independence."
                in M. Eveaert et al. (eds.) Morphology and Modularity: In Honor of Henk Schultink.
                Foris, Dordrecht, 9-32.
1983.        "Objects, Themes and Lexical Rules in Italian."
                in L. Levin, M. Rappaport and A. Zaenen (eds.) Papers in Lexical Functional Grammar.
                Indiana University Linguistics Club, 1-46.
- Conference Proceedings:
- 2003.        "Verbal Adjectives as Adjectives without Phi-features."
                Proceedings of the 4th Tokyo Conference on Psycholinguistics,
                Yukio Otsu (ed.) Keio University, 1-22.
2003.        "On the Loci of Agreement: Inversion Constructions in Mapudungun."
                Proceedings of NELS 33,
                GLSA, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, 25-49.
1999.        "On the interplay of the Universal and the Particular: Case Studies in Edo."
                Proceedings of the 35th Annual Meeting of the Chicago Linguistics Society,
                University of Chicago, Chicago, 265-290.
1999.        "Verb-Raising, Objects and Serialization."
                Proceedings of NELS 29,
                GLSA, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, 17-32. (with O.T. Stewart.)
1997.        "Unaccusativity and the Adjective/Verb Distinction: Edo Evidence."
                Proceedings of NELS 27,
                Kiyomi Kusumoto (ed.), GLSA, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, 33-48.
1996.        "Unaccusativity and the Adjective/Verb Distinction: English and Mohawk Evidence."
                Proceedings of Eastern States Conference in Linguistics '96,
                Cornell University, Ithaca, New York.
1993.        "Why Unaccusative Verbs Cannot Dative-Shift."
                Proceedings of NELS 23,
                University of Massachusetts, Amherst, 1:33-47.
1992.        "Structure Preservation and Mohawk Inchoative Verbs."
                Proceedings of the 18th Annual Meeting of the Berkeley Linguistics Society,
                University of California, Berkeley, CA, 261-275.
1990.        "Pronominal Inflection and the Morphology-Syntax Interface."
                Proceedings of the 26th Annual Meeting of the Chicago Linguistics Society,
                University of Chicago, Chicago, 1: 25-48.
1989.        "Serial Verbs and Verbal Projections."
                Proceedings of NELS 19,
                University of Massachusetts, Amherst, 16-30.
1985.        "Syntactic Affixation and English Gerunds."
                Proceedings of the West Coast Conference on Formal Linguistics 4,
                Stanford University, Stanford, CA: 1-11.
- Book Reviews and Review Articles:
- 1997.        Review: Autolexical Syntax, by J. Sadock.
                Language 73, 847-849.
1997.        "On Particles in Universal Grammar: A review of den Dikken (1995)."
                Natural Language and Linguistic Theory 15, 641-666.
1993.        Review: A-morphous Morphology, by S. Anderson.
                Language 69, 587-590.
1990.        Review: Mixed Categories, by C. Lefebvre and P. Muysken.
                Language 66, 142-146.
- Working Papers Volumes:
- 1988.        "How Complex Words Get Their Properties."
                in McGill University Working Papers in Linguistics,
                Special Issue on Amerindian Languages, Montréal, 40-59.
1988.        "Against Reanalysis of Heads."
                in McGill Working Papers in Linguistics:
                Special Issue on Comparative Germanic Syntax, Montréal, 35-60.
1983.        "Assume GF and the Order of Morphemes."
                in I. Haik and D. Massam (eds.) MIT Working Papers in Linguistics 5: 53-104.
- Work in Progress
- Book:
- The Syntax of Agreement and Concord. Contract issued by Cambridge University Press,
       Finished manuscript to be delivered in Summer 2006.
- Articles:
- "On Gerunds and the Theory of Categories." 60 pp.
       Under review at Linguistic Inquiry.
"On the Relationship of Typology to Theoretical Syntax." 9 pp.
       Under review at Language. (with James McCloskey.)
"The Creative Aspect of Language Use and Nonbiological Nativism."
       in P. Carruthers, S. Laurence and S. Stich (eds.) The Structure of the Innate Mind 3.
- Conference Presentations
- 2005.        "On Gerunds and the Theory of Categories."
                Paper presented at the Penn Linguistics Colloquium 29,
                University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. (February 2005.) Invited Keynote speaker
2005.        "The Impact of Typology on Theoretical Syntax and Morphology."
                Paper presented at the forum of the Status of Typology in America,
                Annual Meeting of the Linguistic Society of America,
                Oakland, CA. (January 2005.) Invited speaker
2005.        "Agreement, Word Order and Categories: Gerunds in Lokaa."
                Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Linguistic Society of America,
                Oakland, CA. (January 2005.) By refereed abstract.
2004.        "On the Creative Aspect of Language Use and Nonbiological Innateness."
                Paper presented at the Reflections of Innateness Conference,
                University of Sheffield, Sheffied, England. (July 2004.) Invited speaker
2004.        "Another Paradigm for Innateness?"
                Paper presented at the Structure of the Innate Mind Workshop,
                University of Maryland, College Park. (March 2004.)
2003.        "Complementation, Nominalization and Polysynthesis."
                Paper presented at the CASTL Kick-off Conference,
                University of Tromsø, Tromsøo, Norway. (October 2003.) Invited Speaker
2003.        "The Tense-Aspect System of Kinande meets Morphosyntactic Theory."
                Paper presented at the 4th World Congress of African Linguistics,
                Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ. (June 2003.) By abstract
2003.        "Verbal Adjectives as Adjectives without Phi-Features."
                Paper presented at the 4th Tokyo Conference on Psycholinguistics,
                Keio University, Tokyo. (March 2003.) Invited speaker
2003.        "Verbs, Nouns and Adjectives: Their Universal Grammar."
                Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Linguistics Society of America,
                Atlanta, Georgia. (January 2003.) Invited plenary speaker
2002.        "Agreement and Dislocation: New Evidence from Mapudungun."
                Paper presented at the 33rd Annual Meeting of the North East Linguistics Society,
                Cambridge, MA. (November 2002.) Invited speaker
2002.        "Advances in Linguistics and Opportunities for a Theistic Cognitive Science."
                Talk presented at the Pew Trust Workshop on the Metaphysics of Persons,
                Princeton, NJ. (September 2002.)
2002.        "The Innate Endowment for Language: Overdetermined or Underdetermined?"
                Paper presented at the 1st Annual AHRB Conference on Innateness
                and the Structure of the Mind, University of Sheffield,
                Sheffield, England. (July 2002.) Invited speaker
2002.        "Verb Phrase Structure: New Insights from Africa."
                Paper presented at the 33rd Annual Meeting of the American Conference on
                African Linguistics, Athens, OH. (March 2002.)
2001.        "Agreement, Dislocation and Partial Configurationality."
                Paper presented at the Role of Agreement in Argument Structure Workshop,
                University of Utrecht. (August 2001.) Invited speaker
2000.        "On Category Asymmetries in Derivational Morphology."
                Paper presented at the 9th International Meeting on Morphology,
                Vienna, Austria. (February 2000.) Invited Speaker
1999.        "On the Noun/Adjective Distinction."
                Paper presented at NELS 20, Rutgers University,
                New Brunswick, NJ. (October 1999.) Invited keynote speaker
1999.        "New Reflections of Syntax in Morphology."
                Paper presented at the Mayfest workshop on Morphology,
                University of Maryland, College Park, MD. (May 1999.) Invited speaker
1999.        "On the Interplay of the Universal and the Particular: Case Studies from Edo."
                Paper presented at the 35th Annual Meeting of the Chicago Linguistics Society,
                University of Chicago, Chicago, IL. (April 1999.) Invited keynote address
1999.        "Innateness and the Universality of Universal Grammar: Evidence from Mohawk."
                Paper presented at the "Grammar: What's Innate?" Symposium at the Annual Meeting
                of the American Association for the Advancement of Science,
                Anaheim, CA. (January 1999.)
1998.        "Verb Movement, Objects and Serialization." Paper presented at
                NELS 29, Newark, DE. (October 1998.) By refereed abstract (with O. T. Stewart.)
1997.        "Adjectives, Thematic Hierarchies and the Spirit of the Minimalist Program."
                Paper presented at the "Challenges of Minimalism" conference, Open Linguistics Forum,
                University of Ottawa. (March 1997.) Invited keynote address
1996.        "Unaccusativity and the Adjective/Verb Distinction: Edo Evidence."
                Paper presented at NELS 27, Montréal QC.
                (October 1996.) By refereed abstract (with O.T. Stewart.)
1996.        "Unaccusativity and the Adjective/Verb Distinction: English and Mohawk Evidence."
                Paper presented at the Eastern States Conference in Linguistics '96,
                St. John, New Brunswick. (September 1996.) Invited speaker to refereed conference.
1995.        "Morpheme Orders and Cooccurence Restrictions in Morphologically Complex Languages."
                Paper presented at the International Conference on Interfaces in Linguistics,
                Oporto, Portugal. (November 1995.) Invited speaker to a refereed conference
1995.        "Is Compounding Autonomous from Syntax?"
                Paper presented at the Morphology and its Interfaces Symposium,
                University of California-Davis. (May 1995.) Invited speaker
1994.        "On Differences between Case and Agreement."
                Paper presented at the Morphology-Syntax Connection Workshop,
                MIT, Cambridge, MA. (January 1994.) By refereed abstract
1993.        "Complex Predicates and Agreement in Polysynthetic Languages."
                Paper presented at the CSLI Complex Predicates Workshop, Stanford University,
                Stanford, CA. (May 1993.) Invited speaker
1992.        "Why Unaccusative Verbs Cannot Dative-Shift."
                Paper presented at NELS 23, Ottawa, ON. (October 1992.) By refereed abstract
1992.        "Structure Preservation and Mohawk Inchoative Verbs."
                Paper presented at the 18th Annual Meeting of the Berkeley Linguistics Society,
                Berkeley, CA. (February 1992.) Invited speaker to a refereed conference
1991.        "Unmatched Chains." Paper presented at NELS 22,
                University of Delaware, Newark. (October 1991.) By refereed abstract
1991.        "Lexical and Nonlexical Noun Incorporation."
                Paper presented at the International Symposium on Lexical Knowledge in the
                Organization of Language, Konstanz, Germany. (May 1991.) Invited speaker
1990.        "Without with: Expressions of Instrumentality in Mohawk."
                Paper presented at the Lexical and Syntactic Relations Workshop,
                University of Toronto, Toronto, ON. (February 1990.)
1989.        "Non-Standard Agreement in Mohawk."
                Paper presented at the Non-Standard Case and Argument Structure Conference,
                University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ. (July 1989.) Invited speaker
1989.        "Pronominal Inflection and the Morphology-Syntax Interface."
                Paper presented at the 26th Annual Meeting of the Chicago Linguistics Society,
                Chicago, IL. (April 1989.) Invited speaker to a refereed conference
1989.        "What the Projection Principle Projects."
                Paper presented at the Views on Phrase Structure Conference,
                University of Florida, Gainesville, FL. (March 1989.)
                Invited speaker to refereed conference
1988.        "Serial Verbs and Verbal Projections."
                Paper presented at NELS 19, Ithaca, NY. (October 1988.) By refereed abstract
1988.        "On the Relation between Serialization and Verb Extensions."
                Paper presented at the Second Niger-Congo Syntax and Semantics Workshop,
                Cambridge, MA. (May 1988.)
1987.        "Noun Incorporation and the Nature of Linguistic Representation."
                Paper presented at the Wenner-Gren Conference on the Role of Theory
                in Language Description, Ocho Rios, Jamaica. (November 1987.) Invited speaker
1987.        "Elements of a Typology of Applicatives in Bantu."
                Paper presented at the Annual Conference on African Languages,
                Boston, MA. (May 1987.) Invited speaker
1987.        "Against a Reanalysis of Heads."
                Paper presented at the Conference on Comparative Germanic Syntax,
                Montréal, QC. (April 1987.)
1986.        "Morphology and Syntax: An Interlocking Independence."
                Paper presented at the Symposium on "Morphology and Modularity,"
                Utrecht, the Netherlands. (June 1986.) Invited speaker
1985.        "The Government-Binding Theory Illustrated."
                Series of five talks given at the Summer Institute of Linguistics,
                University of North Dakota. (August 1985.) Invited speaker
1985.        "Syntactic Affixation and English Gerunds."
                Paper presented at WCCFL 4, Los Angeles, CA. (March 1985.) By refereed abstract
1984.        "Iroquoian Noun Incorporation: Where Syntax and Morphology Meet."
                Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the LSA,
                Baltimore, MD. By refereed abstract
- Grants Received
- National Science Foundation Conference Grant (awarded 2003).
Conference title: World Conference on African Linguistics 4
Amount Received: $30,000.
Fonds pour la Formation de Chercheurs et l'Aide a la Recherche (awarded 1996).
Project Title: On Syntactic Categories (with C. Lefebvre, L. Travis).
Amount Received: $90,000.
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Grant (awarded 1995).
Project Title: A Crosslinguistically Valid Theory of Lexical Categories
Amount Received: $88,000.
Fonds pour la Fomation de Chercheurs et l'Aide a la Recherche (awarded 1993).
Project Title: The Theory and Acquisition of Category Types (with L. Travis and L. White).
Amount Received: $74,025.
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Grant (awarded 1990).
Project Title: Syntactic Theory and the Structure of Mohawk.
Amount Received: $52,139.
Fonds pour la Formation de Chercheurs et l'Aide a la Recherche (awarded 1990).
Project Title: A cross-Linguistic Approach to Syntactic Structure and its Consequences for
the Acquisition of Languages (with L. Travis, L. White and F. Genesee).
Amount Received: $137,000.
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Grant (awarded 1989).
Project Title: Mohawk Syntax and Syntactic Theory.
Amount Received: $18,075.
- Academic Honors
- Sabbatical Research Fellowship, from the American Philosophical Society (awarded 2005)
Ranked 1st in the SSHRCC research grants competition, linguistics section (1995)
Fellow, Center for Advanced Studies in the Behavioral Sciences (1993-1994)
National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship (awarded 1981)
Phi Beta Kappa (awarded 1981)
National Merit Scholarship (awarded 1977)
- Media Coverage of Research
- Radio interview on WWHY, Philadelphia, April 17, 2002.
Der Spiegel magazine article, "Satzbau-Formel entdeckt?", May 2002 (p. 169).
New York Times article, "Expert Says He Discerns 'Hard-Wired' Grammar Rules,' by Brenda Fowler, January 15, 2002.
Radio interview on "New York in Company," WNYC, January 7, 2002.
Discussed in New York Times Magazine column, "On Language" by William Safir, December 16, 2001.
Radio interview on NPR stations in Utah and Colorado, October 19, 2001.
Radio interview, aired on the Bloomberg radio network, October 5, 2001.
Los Angeles Times article, January 2000.
News article in Science, 2000.
Posting on the Foxnews website, Spring 2000.
Article in Child, June-July 2000.
San Francisco Chronicle article, "Secret Skeleton inside all Languages, Study Hints," by Cark T. Hall, January 23, 1999.
Daily Telegraph (UK) article, "Mohawk clue backs innate rules of language," January 1999.
- Community Service
- 1990-1992 Consultant to the Kahnawake Cultural Center and Board of Education on programs to preserve and promote the Mohawk langauge.
1989-1991 Consultant to the McGill University Native Teacher Training Program, Kahnawake Branch.
- Other Professional Activities
- Member of the Linguistic Society of America Executive Committee, 2004-2007.
Member of Linguistic Society of America Nominating Committee, 1998-2001. (Chair: 2000-2001)
Member of the Corporation Visiting Committee for the Department of Linguistics and Philosophy, MIT, 2000-2008.