We are delighted to announce that our very recent alum Eunsun Jou (PhD 2024) has accepted a tenure-track position as Assistant Professor in the School of Digital Humanities and Computational Social Sciences (DHCSS) at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST). Our warmest congratulations to Eunsun and to KAIST (often described as the “MIT of Korea”)!
Issue of Monday, September 15th, 2025
Syntax Square 9/16 - Elise Newman (MIT)
Speaker: Elise Newman (MIT)
Title: Some thoughts on clefts and wh-fronting
Time: Tuesday, September 16th, 1pm - 2pm
Location: 32-D461
Abstract: To kick off the new semester of syntax square, I want to explore a question: why do some languages primarily use clefts for question-formation when wh-fronting should be a possibility? I dont know the answer, but Im hoping that by making the question more concrete, we can start to see a path towards an eventual solution. Ill explore questions in two languages, Tagalog and Passamaquoddy, which both have the following in common: they use different strategies for DP-questions than non-DP questions. Tagalog uses a pseudo-cleft strategy for DP questions but a regular fronting strategy for non-DP questions; Passamaquoddy uses different clause type for each one. Ill revisit some properties of clefts and relatives clauses in each case and show that while the behavior of and restrictions on non-DP wh-phrases are fairly straightforward to understand, the behavior of DPs is less obvious.
Speaker: Elise Newman (MIT)
Title: Some thoughts on clefts and wh-fronting
Time: Tuesday, September 16th, 1pm - 2pm
Location: 32-D461
Abstract: To kick off the new semester of syntax square, I want to explore a question: why do some languages primarily use clefts for question-formation when wh-fronting should be a possibility? I dont know the answer, but Im hoping that by making the question more concrete, we can start to see a path towards an eventual solution. Ill explore questions in two languages, Tagalog and Passamaquoddy, which both have the following in common: they use different strategies for DP-questions than non-DP questions. Tagalog uses a pseudo-cleft strategy for DP questions but a regular fronting strategy for non-DP questions; Passamaquoddy uses different clause type for each one. Ill revisit some properties of clefts and relatives clauses in each case and show that while the behavior of and restrictions on non-DP wh-phrases are fairly straightforward to understand, the behavior of DPs is less obvious.
LF Reading Group 9/17 - Yurika Aonuki (MIT)
Speaker: Yurika Aonuki (MIT)
Title: On the QUD sensitivity of a third reading
Time: Wednesday, September 17th, 1pm - 2pm
Location: 32-D461
Abstract: We provide the first experimental evidence for the hypothesis that transparent readings are sensitive to the QUD (Question Under Discussion) (Schwager (Kaufmann) 2009; Percus 2020; Benbaji-Elhadad 2023; Mayr and Schmitt 2023, 2024), using third readings (Fodor 1970) in attitude reports. In particular, we test Mayr and Schmitt’s (2023, 2024) claim that there is difference in transparent-reading-licensing abilities even among QUDs about the attitude holders mental state. Our results have consequences for (replacement) theories of transparent readings and shed light on how a QUD about someone’s mental state can be manipulated.
Speaker: Yurika Aonuki (MIT)
Title: On the QUD sensitivity of a third reading
Time: Wednesday, September 17th, 1pm - 2pm
Location: 32-D461
Abstract: We provide the first experimental evidence for the hypothesis that transparent readings are sensitive to the QUD (Question Under Discussion) (Schwager (Kaufmann) 2009; Percus 2020; Benbaji-Elhadad 2023; Mayr and Schmitt 2023, 2024), using third readings (Fodor 1970) in attitude reports. In particular, we test Mayr and Schmitt’s (2023, 2024) claim that there is difference in transparent-reading-licensing abilities even among QUDs about the attitude holders mental state. Our results have consequences for (replacement) theories of transparent readings and shed light on how a QUD about someone’s mental state can be manipulated.
MIT @ TripleA
The 12th TripleA workshop for semantic fieldworkers was held at the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, Japan on September 10-12, 2025. The following members of our community presented at the conference:
- James Cooper Roberts (3rd year), Yizhen Jiang (3rd year) & Haoming Li (4th year): How to talk about groups in a language without group nouns: The case of Passamaquoddy
- Junri Shimada (PhD 2009)[Meiji Gakuin University] & Abdul-Razak Sulemana (PhD 2021)[University of Ghana]: Embedded tenses in Bùlì
- Tim Jantarungsee, Christopher Davis & Yasutada Sudo (PhD 2012)[UCL]: Selectional restriction in Mlabri ingestion verbs
The 12th TripleA workshop for semantic fieldworkers was held at the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, Japan on September 10-12, 2025. The following members of our community presented at the conference:
- James Cooper Roberts (3rd year), Yizhen Jiang (3rd year) & Haoming Li (4th year): How to talk about groups in a language without group nouns: The case of Passamaquoddy
- Junri Shimada (PhD 2009)[Meiji Gakuin University] & Abdul-Razak Sulemana (PhD 2021)[University of Ghana]: Embedded tenses in Bùlì
- Tim Jantarungsee, Christopher Davis & Yasutada Sudo (PhD 2012)[UCL]: Selectional restriction in Mlabri ingestion verbs
Phonology Circle 9/15 - Aljoa Milenkovi? (Harvard) and Kevin Ryan (Harvard)
Speaker: Aljoa Milenkovi? (Harvard) and Kevin Ryan (Harvard)
Title: Stress-weight and stress-tone interaction in South Slavic folk verse
Time: Monday, September 15th, 5pm - 6:30pm
Location: 32-D831
Abstract: We analyze the distribution of stress, tone and syllable weight in the epic decasyllable, a traditional verse form of South Slavic folk poetry. The meter imposes strict distributional constraints on tone and
weight in stressed syllables. The stress-modulated nature of tone and weight mapping places the epic
decasyllable in the category of hybrid meters of the interactive type (in the sense of Ryan 2017). The
contribution is twofold: we demonstrate that hybrid meters can display multiple interactive mappings in
parallel (in this case, stress-weight and stress-tone) and offer evidence for stress-tone interaction,
previously undocumented in hybrid meters. This is also, to our knowledge, the first demonstration of
tone-sensitivity in an Indo-European meter. We provide a MaxEnt model for the epic decasyllable.
Building on recent work in MaxEnt metrics (Hayes & Schuh 2019; Henriksson 2022), we discuss different
methods for incorporating ordinary language baselines in MaxEnt analyses of metered verse.
Speaker: Aljoa Milenkovi? (Harvard) and Kevin Ryan (Harvard)
Title: Stress-weight and stress-tone interaction in South Slavic folk verse
Time: Monday, September 15th, 5pm - 6:30pm
Location: 32-D831
Abstract: We analyze the distribution of stress, tone and syllable weight in the epic decasyllable, a traditional verse form of South Slavic folk poetry. The meter imposes strict distributional constraints on tone and
weight in stressed syllables. The stress-modulated nature of tone and weight mapping places the epic
decasyllable in the category of hybrid meters of the interactive type (in the sense of Ryan 2017). The
contribution is twofold: we demonstrate that hybrid meters can display multiple interactive mappings in
parallel (in this case, stress-weight and stress-tone) and offer evidence for stress-tone interaction,
previously undocumented in hybrid meters. This is also, to our knowledge, the first demonstration of
tone-sensitivity in an Indo-European meter. We provide a MaxEnt model for the epic decasyllable.
Building on recent work in MaxEnt metrics (Hayes & Schuh 2019; Henriksson 2022), we discuss different
methods for incorporating ordinary language baselines in MaxEnt analyses of metered verse.