CHAIR OF THE DEPARTMENT:
Professor Richard S. Kayne

DIRECTOR OF GRADUATE STUDIES:
Professor Gregory R. Guy

The main strengths of the department are in the core areas of grammar (phonology, syntax, semantics), in sociolinguistics, and in neurolinguistics. Research by faculty and graduate students seeks to combine theoretical depth and empirical richness.

The department has strong ties to the Departments of Anthropology, Philosophy, and Psychology. The bonds to these disciplines reflect the department's commitment to a broad-based and comprehensive approach to the study of language.

The department's Ph.D. program prepares students for research in linguistics and for careers in academe and industry.

Faculty

Mark R. Baltin, Professor. Ph.D. 1978 (linguistics), Massachusetts Institute of Technology; M.A. 1975 (linguistics), Pennsylvania; B.A. 1971 (linguistics), McGill.
Syntax; semantics; lexical representation.

Chris Barker, Associate Professor. Ph.D. 1991 (linguistics), B.A. 1986 (computer and information sciences), California (Santa Cruz); B.A. 1983 (English), Yale.
Formal semantics; syntax/semantics interface; computational linguistics.

Renée A. Blake, Associate Professor. Ph.D. 1997 (linguistics), M.A. 1993 (linguistics), B.S. 1987 (biology), Stanford.
Urban sociolinguistics; African American Vernacular English; language and culture in the Caribbean.

Christopher T. Collins, Associate Professor. Ph.D. 1993 (linguistics), B.S. 1985 (mathematics), Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Theory of Syntax; comparative syntax of African languages; English, Ewe, Ju|’hoansi, =Hoan, and Khoisan syntax.

John R. Costello, Professor. Ph.D. 1968 (Germanic linguistics), M.A. 1966 (Germanic linguistics), New York; B.A. 1964 (German literature), Wagner College.
Historical linguistics; diachronic syntax; first- and second-language acquisition.

Lisa B. Davidson, Assistant Professor. Ph.D. 2003 (cognitive science), M.A. 2000 (cognitive science), Johns Hopkins; B.A. 1997 (linguistics, Hispanic studies), Brown.
Phonetics; laboratory phonology; second-language acquisition.

Ray C. Dougherty, Associate Professor. Ph.D. 1968 (linguistics), Massachusetts Institute of Technology; M.S. 1964 (engineering science), B.A. 1962 (engineering science), Dartmouth College.
Computational and mathematical models of language; generative syntax and morphology; language acquisition.

Adamantios I. Gafos, Associate Professor. Ph.D. 1996 (cognitive science), M.A. 1994 (cognitive science), Johns Hopkins; M.S. 1992 (computer science), Purdue; B.A. 1990 (computer science), Patras (Greece).
Phonology; phonetics; morphology.

Maria Gouskova, Assistant Professor. Ph.D. 2003 (linguistics), Massachusetts (Amherst); B.A. 1998 (English linguistics and German language and literature), Eastern Michigan.
Phonology; morphophonology; prosody; optimality theory; laboratory phonology.

Gregory R. Guy, Professor. Ph.D. 1981 (linguistics), M.A. 1975 (linguistics), Pennsylvania; B.A. 1972 (English language and literature), Boston.
Linguistic variation and language change; sociolinguistics; phonology, phonetics, Romance linguistics.

Richard S. Kayne, Professor. Docteur ès Lettres 1976 (linguistics), Paris VIII; Ph.D. 1969 (linguistics), Massachusetts Institute of Technology; B.A. 1964 (mathematics), Columbia. Honorary degree: Doctorate honoris causa 1995, Leiden (The Netherlands).
Syntactic theory; comparative syntax; Romance languages.

Alec Marantz, Professor. Ph.D. 1981 (linguistics), Massachusetts Institute of Technology; B.A. 1978 (psycholinguistics), Oberlin College.
Universal grammar; syntax; morphology; language acquisition; neurolinguistics.

Paul M. Postal, Research Professor. Ph.D. 1962 (anthropology), Yale; B.A. 1957 (philosophy, anthropology), Columbia.
Syntax; structure of French; foundations of linguistics.

Mariliina Pylkkänen, Assistant Professor, Linguistics, Psychology. Ph.D. 2002 (linguistics), Massachusetts Institute of Technology; M.A. 1997 (linguistics), Pittsburgh.
Neuroloinguistics; psycholinguistics; semantics; syntax; lexicon.

John Victor Singler, Professor. Ph.D. 1984 (linguistics), M.A. 1979 (linguistics), California (Los Angeles); M.A. 1976 (African studies), London; B.A. 1969 (history), Dartmouth College.
Sociolinguistics; pidgins and creoles; language contact; phonology.

Anna Szabolcsi, Professor. Ph.D. 1987 (linguistics), Hungarian Academy of Sciences; M.A. 1978 (linguistics), B.A. 1976 (English and linguistics), Eötvös Loránd (Budapest).
Formal semantics; Hungarian syntax; syntax/semantics interface.

AFFILIATED FACULTY IN OTHER DEPARTMENTS

Doris R. Aaronson, Psychology; Kit Fine, Philosophy; Milan Fryscák, Russian and Slavic Studies; Ralph Grishman, Computer Science; Don Kulick, Anthropology; Gary F. Marcus, Psychology; Robert D. McChesney, Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies; Brian McElree, Psychology; Haruko Momma, English; Mary Louise Pratt, Social and Cultural Analysis; Naomi Sager, Computer Science; Bambi B. Schieffelin, Anthropology; Stephen Schiffer, Philosophy.

FACULTY EMERITA

Noriko Umeda.