Mayfest 2024
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Research
Research at our top-ranked department spans syntax, semantics, phonology, language acquisition, computational linguistics, psycholinguistics and neurolinguistics.
Connections between our core competencies are strong, with theoretical, experimental and computational work typically pursued in tandem.
A network of collaboration at all levels sustains a research climate that is both vigorous and friendly. Here new ideas develop in conversation, stimulated by the steady activity of our labs and research groups, frequent student meetings with faculty, regular talks by local and invited scholars and collaborations with the broader University of Maryland language science community, the largest and most integrated language science research community in North America.
Featured Research News
Processing Temporals and Locatives in a Licensing Parser
A dissertation on processing adjuncts.
Non-ARHU Contributor(s): Margaret Antonisse
Dates:
A dissertation on processing adjuncts.
Reduplication, feature displacement, and existential faithfulness
A dissertation on the phonology of reduplication.
Non-ARHU Contributor(s): Carolina Maria Struijke
Dates:
A dissertation on the phonology of reduplication.
Processing temporal modifiers : the influence of lexical aspect
A dissertation on the interaction between aspect and the interpretation of temporal modifiers.
Non-ARHU Contributor(s): Margaret Jordan Antonisse
Dates:
A dissertation on the interaction between aspect and the interpretation of temporal modifiers.
Syntax and Semantics of Quantification in Chinese
Eliminating covert A-bar movement.
Non-ARHU Contributor(s): Jianxin Wu
Dates:
Eliminating covert A-bar movement.
Theoretical implications of OCP effects on features in optimality theory
A dissertation on OCP effects in OT.
Non-ARHU Contributor(s): Haruka Fukazawa
Dates:
A dissertation on OCP effects in OT.
Selection of the optimal syllable in an alignment-based theory of sonority
A dissertation on the role of sonority in syllable structure.
Non-ARHU Contributor(s): Patricia Hironymous
Dates:
A dissertation on the role of sonority in syllable structure.
Interactions between markedness and faithfulness constraints in vowel systems
On markedness in phonology.
Non-ARHU Contributor(s): Viola Giulia Miglio
Dates:
On markedness in phonology.
The phonotactics and phonology of obstruent clusters in optimality theory
A dissertation on consonant clusters in OT.
Non-ARHU Contributor(s): Frida Morelli
Dates:
A dissertation on consonant clusters in OT.
Distinctiveness, coercion and sonority : a unified theory of weight
There are two ways to be a mora: intrinsically or due to context.
Non-ARHU Contributor(s): Bruce Timothy Moren
Dates:
The two main goals of this dissertation are: 1) to examine and review the nature and patterns of segment weight, including: inventories, processes, and dependencies; and 2) to provide a simple and economical account for the observed descriptive generalizations within the framework of Optimality Theory and Moraic Theory. A thorough inspection of data from a large number of languages leads to the conclusion that a unified theory and mechanism of moraicity across segment types (i.e. both consonants and vowels) is warranted. This work provides such a unified theory. Chapter 1 reviews evidence for different degrees of weight, presents the syllable representations assumed throughout this work, and demonstrates that there are two sources of weight – coerced and distinctive. Coerced weight is a restriction on surface moraicity in some phonological context (e.g. weight by position and foot binarity), and is subject to distributional restrictions based on sonority. In contrast, distinctive weight is an underlying moraicity reflected in a surface contrast (e.g.geminate versus non-geminate intervocalic consonants), and is not bounded by
sonority.
Chapter 2 is a brief review of Optimality Theory and Correspondence Theory,
and discusses the factorial rankings (permutations) of three types of constraints:
1) General moraic markedness constraints against moraic segments of
different types – ranked in a universal hierarchy based on sonority;
2) Coercive moraic markedness constraints; and
3) Faithfulness constraints on underlying moraic affiliation with segments
of different sonorities.
Chapter 3 uses data from a number of languages to show that the descriptive
generalizations discussed in chapter 1 emerge naturally as the result of constraint
interactions.
Chapter 4 expands on chapter 3, and provides in-depth case studies of segment
moraicity and other phenomena in Hawaiian, Modern Standard Italian, Kashmiri, two
Hungarian dialects, two Icelandic dialects, and Metropolitan New York English. This
chapter gives detailed descriptions of different weight patterns; reveals that the
constraints proposed in this work can be integrated into more complete grammars; and
shows that different dialects can arise from a minimal re-ranking of constraints.
Chapter 5 is a repository for discussions of miscellaneous issues, as well as the
general conclusions
Studies in coreference and binding
A dissertation on binding theory.
Non-ARHU Contributor(s): Frederick C. Savarese
Dates:
A dissertation on binding theory.