 |
| Arabic |
There is lots of scope for
descriptively oriented dissertations looking at some aspect of the
syntax of Arabic vernaculars.
Needs native speaker familiarity with an Arabic dialect.
|
|
|
|
| Negation |
Syntax of Sentential Negation in a language other than English.
Negative polarity items in a language other than English.
|
|
| Coordination |
Almost any aspect of the syntax of coordination.
|
|
| Argument Structure |
Following the model of Asudeh, Dalrymple and Toivonen on the way construction, and the MA work
of Liz Macgregor last year on the English resultative construction, using templates to capture a particular
lexical construction or argument structure alternation. Requires
understanding of LFG and finding out about the chosen construction,
and about Lexical Mapping Theory (the approach to argument structure
alternations in LFG).
|
|
| Incorporation |
I got interested in incorporation working with Rachel Nordlinger
on part whole and generic specific constructions in Australian
Aboriginal languages. This led us to look at constructions like
arm-cooked kangaroo meaning "I coooked the kangaroo's arm", and
an interest in syntactic and semantic accounts of incorporation.
|
|
| External Possession Constructions |
This refers to constructions like " to him the doctor examined
the head " and " the head hurt to him ". These
constructions don't exist in English, hence the odd paraphrases above:
in English all you get is "internal" possession, where the possessor
appears inside the NP whose head it is an argument of, as in "His head
hurt" and "The doctor examined his head"..
|