“Corpus-based cognitivist perspectives on the whys and hows of language variation and change – or, Just getting to know your new colleague”

Abstract

What types of cognitive and usage-determined constraints steer the unfolding of morphosyntactic change across different linguistic environments? What effects do the socio-cognitive dimensions of language use have on the intralinguistic mapping out of morphosyntactic change? And, more broadly, what can inter-varietal convergence or divergence reveal about the workings of such constraints in terms of their pervasiveness versus flexibility?

These questions exemplify the types of issues that my research homes in on. In this seminar, I will provide an overview of the research I have conducted during my postdoc, the endeavors that I am currently pursuing, and some open questions I aim to address in future projects. My research is corpus-based and primarily focuses on morphosyntactic variation and change within and across varieties of Spanish. I have also worked on phenomena of variation and change in other languages (e.g., Portuguese), semantic change, constructionalization, communicative efficiency, and cognitive-pragmatic aspects of variable coding length in discourse, which I will discuss. I am also interested in exploring potential collaborations and cross-pollination opportunities between the research members’ various endeavors and specializations.

Future presentations:

If you want to present your research whithin the area of Linguistic Structures, or if you have a speaker in mind, please contact Evie Coussé. The following slots are available this term:

• 24/10
• 14/11
• 5/12