On 21 January, 2026, our 4th-year student Bergül Soykan gave a talk at UCL. You can read the abstract here.
See below for pictures of Bergül with some of our alums (The top photo from right to left: Yasu, Margaret, Adèle and Bergül)!
Issue of Monday, February 2nd, 2026
Passamaquoddy group trip to Maine
Later in January, Vlad Orlov, Cooper Roberts and Norvin Richard went to Maine for the winter Passamaquoddy group trip!
Later in January, Vlad Orlov, Cooper Roberts and Norvin Richard went to Maine for the winter Passamaquoddy group trip!
Course announcements: Spring 2026
Course announcements in this post:
- Topics in Syntax (24.956)
- Topics in Experimental Phonology (24.967)
- Topics in Semantics (24.979)
24.956: Topics in Syntax
Modeling phonological typology
- Instructor: Sabine Iatridou, Elise Nerman, David Pesetsky
- Time: Monday, 2pm-5pm
- Room: 32-D461
This class will explore what is known and what is unknown about the internal and external syntax of nominals. We chose the term “nominals” rather than “NP” or “DP” because the headedness of nominals is in fact a topic of continual debate — a remarkable lack of scientific consensus for such a basic question concerning one of the fundamental building blocks of human language. In contrast to the verbal domain, where there is also debate but also significant (justified) consensus, many other fundamental aspects of nominal syntax remain deeply puzzling. What functional elements enter into their maximal extended projections, and how closely (if at all) does their arrangement parallel what is found in the verbal domain? What can nominalized clauses such as gerunds reveal about the parallels and non-parallels between nominals and clauses? Do nouns take complements analogous to complements of verbs, prepositions, and adjectives? Where do relative clauses fit into the picture, and what laws govern the syntax of modification more generally? Is concord within the nominal an instance of Agree or something else? How should we understand constructions seemingly special to the nominal domain such as construct state, polydefiniteness, and others?
Our plan for the beginning of the semester starts as follows, probably one class per topic:
-
The headedness of nominals
-
Gerunds
-
Construct State
and then we will be off and running.
Course requirements: active attendance and participation, meetings with instructors to develop final paper, final paper
24.967: Topics in Experimental Phonology
- Instructor: Adam Albright & Edward Flemming
- Time: Wednesday, 10am-1pm
- Room: 32-D461
The field of phonology has increasingly looked to experimental results to confirm and extend its understanding of phonological patterns. In this course, we will examine some of the issues involved in deriving experimentally testable predictions from a theory, designing and running an experiment, and interpreting the results.
The class has several goals:
- Consider the relation between linguistic theory, empirical predictions, and experimental results
- Gain practical knowledge in designing and carrying out experiments in the lab and on-line, and performing data analysis using R
- Gain familiarity with some commonly used experimental paradigms, comparing what they can tell us about the linguistic system
The emphasis this year will be on statistical analysis. The course will be organized around the statistical models that are most applicable to linguistic experiments:
- Linear models and linear mixed-effects models
- Generalized linear (mixed) models: logistic/probit regression, ordinal logistic regression, log-linear models
- Factor coding for interpretable statistical analysis
- Possibly: Bayesian linear models
The application of these models will be illustrated through case studies selected based on the interests of the participants. Candidates include: Coarticulation, perceptual similarity, the P-Map Hypothesis, statistics of the lexicon, wug/blick tests and Universal Grammar/learning biases. Experimental paradigms examined are likely to include production, perceptual identification and discrimination, artificial language learning, and acceptability judgments.
Requirements for students taking the course for credit:
- Readings and class participation
- Regular assignments (modest and practical in nature)
24.979: Topics in Semantics
Topics in anaphora and presupposition
- Instructor: Gennaro Chierchia & Danny Fox
- Time: Thursday, 2:30pm-5:30pm
- Room:
- Harvard: Boylston G 02
- MIT: 32D-461
Anaphora and presuppositions have been at the frontier of semantic inquiry for a long time, with Heim (1982) dissertation, presenting a sweeping and largely unified view of these two phenomena, with consequences for the syntactic theory of Logical Form. Much of the subsequent work on these topics over the past 40 years have been developments in reaction to Heims work, but in much of this work anaphora and presupposition have been treated separately. These two topics are intertwined, furthermore, with that of indefinites which have peculiar scopa; and anaphoric properties that sets them aside from other quantificational noun phrases.
In the present seminar we will explore various issues pertaining to variable binding, anaphora and presupposition with the hope that they might end up bearing on the general question of the unification propsed in Heims dissertation.
Requirements.
- Class participation and presentations
- A final paper
Course announcements in this post:
- Topics in Syntax (24.956)
- Topics in Experimental Phonology (24.967)
- Topics in Semantics (24.979)
24.956: Topics in Syntax
Modeling phonological typology
- Instructor: Sabine Iatridou, Elise Nerman, David Pesetsky
- Time: Monday, 2pm-5pm
- Room: 32-D461
This class will explore what is known and what is unknown about the internal and external syntax of nominals. We chose the term “nominals” rather than “NP” or “DP” because the headedness of nominals is in fact a topic of continual debate — a remarkable lack of scientific consensus for such a basic question concerning one of the fundamental building blocks of human language. In contrast to the verbal domain, where there is also debate but also significant (justified) consensus, many other fundamental aspects of nominal syntax remain deeply puzzling. What functional elements enter into their maximal extended projections, and how closely (if at all) does their arrangement parallel what is found in the verbal domain? What can nominalized clauses such as gerunds reveal about the parallels and non-parallels between nominals and clauses? Do nouns take complements analogous to complements of verbs, prepositions, and adjectives? Where do relative clauses fit into the picture, and what laws govern the syntax of modification more generally? Is concord within the nominal an instance of Agree or something else? How should we understand constructions seemingly special to the nominal domain such as construct state, polydefiniteness, and others?
Our plan for the beginning of the semester starts as follows, probably one class per topic:
-
The headedness of nominals
-
Gerunds
-
Construct State
and then we will be off and running.
Course requirements: active attendance and participation, meetings with instructors to develop final paper, final paper
24.967: Topics in Experimental Phonology
- Instructor: Adam Albright & Edward Flemming
- Time: Wednesday, 10am-1pm
- Room: 32-D461
The field of phonology has increasingly looked to experimental results to confirm and extend its understanding of phonological patterns. In this course, we will examine some of the issues involved in deriving experimentally testable predictions from a theory, designing and running an experiment, and interpreting the results.
The class has several goals:
- Consider the relation between linguistic theory, empirical predictions, and experimental results
- Gain practical knowledge in designing and carrying out experiments in the lab and on-line, and performing data analysis using R
- Gain familiarity with some commonly used experimental paradigms, comparing what they can tell us about the linguistic system
The emphasis this year will be on statistical analysis. The course will be organized around the statistical models that are most applicable to linguistic experiments:
- Linear models and linear mixed-effects models
- Generalized linear (mixed) models: logistic/probit regression, ordinal logistic regression, log-linear models
- Factor coding for interpretable statistical analysis
- Possibly: Bayesian linear models
The application of these models will be illustrated through case studies selected based on the interests of the participants. Candidates include: Coarticulation, perceptual similarity, the P-Map Hypothesis, statistics of the lexicon, wug/blick tests and Universal Grammar/learning biases. Experimental paradigms examined are likely to include production, perceptual identification and discrimination, artificial language learning, and acceptability judgments.
Requirements for students taking the course for credit:
- Readings and class participation
- Regular assignments (modest and practical in nature)
24.979: Topics in Semantics
Topics in anaphora and presupposition
- Instructor: Gennaro Chierchia & Danny Fox
- Time: Thursday, 2:30pm-5:30pm
- Room:
- Harvard: Boylston G 02
- MIT: 32D-461
Anaphora and presuppositions have been at the frontier of semantic inquiry for a long time, with Heim (1982) dissertation, presenting a sweeping and largely unified view of these two phenomena, with consequences for the syntactic theory of Logical Form. Much of the subsequent work on these topics over the past 40 years have been developments in reaction to Heims work, but in much of this work anaphora and presupposition have been treated separately. These two topics are intertwined, furthermore, with that of indefinites which have peculiar scopa; and anaphoric properties that sets them aside from other quantificational noun phrases.
In the present seminar we will explore various issues pertaining to variable binding, anaphora and presupposition with the hope that they might end up bearing on the general question of the unification propsed in Heims dissertation.
Requirements.
- Class participation and presentations
- A final paper
MIT Linguistics @ LSA 2026
This year, the Annual Meeting of the Linguistic Society of America was held in New Orleans from January 8-11, 2026. Several MIT students and alums gave presentations:
- James Cooper Roberts (3rd year): An Agreement-interpretation puzzle concerning Indo-European fraction partitives
- Adèle Hénot-Mortier (PhD 2025)[Queen Mary University of London]: Oddness, logical compatibility and granularity
- Devon Denny (SM 2022)[UCSD]: Dine? Bizaad (Navajo) Q-Particle Distribution is Sensitive to Information Structure
- Luwen Cao, Zhiming Bao (PhD 1990)[National University of Singapore], Lei Feng, Tih-Shih Lee: Stratified Analysis of Voice Parameters in Cognitive Impairment: Evidence for Population-Specific Linguistic Biomarkers
- Tanya Bondarenko (PhD 2022)[Harvard]: Becoming a strong PCC language: a view from Alabama
- Fulang Chen (PhD 2023), Ka-Fai Yip: Does the Williams Cycle apply to Mandarin Chinese?
- Jian-Leat Siah, Sam Zukoff (PhD 2017)[UCLA], Feng-fan Hsieh (PhD 2007)[National Tsing Hua University]: Generative Phonetic Modeling of Malay Nasal Harmony
- Abdul-Razak Sulemana (PhD 2021)[University of Ghana], Ken Hiraiwa (PhD 2005)[Meiji Gakuin University]: Syntax of Concealed Sluicing in Buli
- Madison Enis, Hadas Kotek (PhD 2014)[MIT], Li Yuo: What Linguists Know and Your Team Still Doesnt
This year, the Annual Meeting of the Linguistic Society of America was held in New Orleans from January 8-11, 2026. Several MIT students and alums gave presentations:
- James Cooper Roberts (3rd year): An Agreement-interpretation puzzle concerning Indo-European fraction partitives
- Adèle Hénot-Mortier (PhD 2025)[Queen Mary University of London]: Oddness, logical compatibility and granularity
- Devon Denny (SM 2022)[UCSD]: Dine? Bizaad (Navajo) Q-Particle Distribution is Sensitive to Information Structure
- Luwen Cao, Zhiming Bao (PhD 1990)[National University of Singapore], Lei Feng, Tih-Shih Lee: Stratified Analysis of Voice Parameters in Cognitive Impairment: Evidence for Population-Specific Linguistic Biomarkers
- Tanya Bondarenko (PhD 2022)[Harvard]: Becoming a strong PCC language: a view from Alabama
- Fulang Chen (PhD 2023), Ka-Fai Yip: Does the Williams Cycle apply to Mandarin Chinese?
- Jian-Leat Siah, Sam Zukoff (PhD 2017)[UCLA], Feng-fan Hsieh (PhD 2007)[National Tsing Hua University]: Generative Phonetic Modeling of Malay Nasal Harmony
- Abdul-Razak Sulemana (PhD 2021)[University of Ghana], Ken Hiraiwa (PhD 2005)[Meiji Gakuin University]: Syntax of Concealed Sluicing in Buli
- Madison Enis, Hadas Kotek (PhD 2014)[MIT], Li Yuo: What Linguists Know and Your Team Still Doesnt