My research has two primary emphases: the description and documentation of languages, and the exploration and advancement of linguistic theory through the empirical analysis of linguistic data. Beginning with the latter point, my research is primarily concerned with syntactic theory, especially with issues in complex sentences. In order to explain syntactic patterns, it is crucial to provide highly detailed and sound syntactic argumentation, which is then enriched by an examination of the broader context (physical, social, cultural, discourse) in which the structures appear. This methodology allows for the critical unveiling of how the context shapes the syntax. Most recently, I have begun to examine the interplay of prosody and syntax, two independent but interacting dimensions which speakers simultaneously deploy in the production and structuring of discourse.

The other emphasis in my research is the description and documentation of languages. The majority of my work in this domain has been in the Himalayan region. The Himalayas are a linguistically diverse area, with languages from four major language families lying at the boundaries of distinct linguistic areas. Many of these languages have little or no documentation, most are endangered, and some are moribund. As with many parts of the world today, there is an urgent need for documentary work in the Himalayas. One of my goals is to foster and support such work. I have also recently begun fieldwork in an entirely different region of the world, Northern Italy. The focus of my research is Nones, my own ancestral language, which is spoken in the Val di Non. Nones is a variety of Rhaeto-Romance, a fascinating and in some ways conservative branch of the Romance family. My work in this area is just beginning, but I look forward to doing much more in the coming years.

RECENT PUBLICATIONS

To appear (2007). Syntax and prosody: Interacting coding systems in Dolakha Newar. Iwasaki, Shoichi and Andrew Simpson (eds.). Proceedings of the Thirteenth Annual Meeting of the Southeast Asian Linguistic Society. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics. 53-67.

2007. A grammar of Dolakha Newar. (Mouton Grammar Series 40.) Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.

2006. Complementation and complementation strategy in Dolakha Newar. Dixon, R.M.W. and Alexandra Aikhenvald (eds.). Complementation and Complementation Strategies: A cross-linguistic typology. (Explorations in Linguistic Typology 3.) Oxford: Oxford University Press. 137-158.

2005. “The participial construction in Dolakha Newar: Syntactic implications of an Asian converb.” Studies in Language 29.1: 35-87.

2004. Editor. Tibeto-Burman Languages of Nepal: Manange and Sherpa. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.

CURRENT PROJECTS

• Syntactic and typological analysis of nominalization in five Tibeto-Burman languages
• Phonetic description of Nones, a Rhaeto-Romance variety of the Val di Non
• The development of verbal adjectives in Newar
• Syntax/prosody interactions in the Dolakha dialect of Newar

COURSES TAUGHT

• Linguistics 20/200: Introduction to Linguistics
• Linguistics 111/211: Introduction to Phonology
• Linguistics 181: Languages of the World
• Linguistics 194/297: Language Documentation
• Linguistics 221A-B-C: Field Methods
• Linguistics 222: Typology and Universals
• Linguistics 234: Advanced Syntax
• Linguistics 238: Syntax Beyond the Clause
• Linguistics 243A-B: Topics in Linguistic Families
  - Recent seminar topic: Tibeto-Burman Languages
• Linguistics 250: Language Documentation
• Linguistics 252A-B: Seminar in Morphology and Syntax
  - Current seminar topic: Clause Chaining and Related Structures