Linguistics research projects
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Q Theory
With Stephanie Shih (USC) and current UC Berkeley students Karee Garvin, Myriam Lapierre, and Martha Schwarz, I have been developing Q Theory, a new internal representation for segments which decomposes segments into a sequence of three subsegments. A 2019 article on Q Theory in 2019 article in Linguistic Inquiry develops the approach formally and embeds it into Agreement by Correspondence Theory, with tone as a case study (Lingbuzz prepublication version available here). For a complete list of Q Theory publications, including recent extensions of Q Theory to segmental strength scales, please see the Q Theory project page.
Child Phonology
Like my research in morphophonology and morphology, my interest in child phonology lies in relating the apparently idiosyncratic patterns of individuals to the broader trends that can be observed across larger systems. I have collaborated with Tara McAllister Byun (NYU) and Yvan Rose (University of Newfoundland) on the A-map model, an exemplar-based Optimality-Theoretic model of phonological learning that builds motoric considerations directly into grammar. A major paper outlining the A-map model, "Articulatory reliability in child-specific phonology", recently appeared in Language.
Phonology-Morphology interface
Since my 1989 Stanford University dissertation, my research has focused on the phonology-morphology interface, looking at the implications of language-specific morphophonological generalizations for cross-linguistic generalizations and the models that capture them. I have published on cyclicity, cophonologies, and realizational morphology. In 2005, Cheryl Zoll and I published Reduplication: Doubling in Morphology with Cambridge University Press. My 2014 book, The Interplay of Morphology and Phonology, published by Oxford University Press, provides an overview of this very rich area of inquiry.
Morphology
I have long been interested in how seemingly arbitrary conditions on affix ordering interact with - and shed light on - general cross-linguistic principles of morphological combinatorics. With Gabriela Caballero (UC San Diego) I developed Optimal Construction Morphology (Morphology, 2013), in which blocking and multiple exponence effects emerge from the lexicon in a bottom-up, production-oriented, optimizing model of word formation. This approach Is applied to affix ordering in a 2016 paper in Morphological Metatheory (Siddiqi and Harley, eds.)
PhD dissertation advisees
Martha Schwarz. Realization and Representation of Nepali Laryngeal Contrasts. 2024.
Myriam Lapierre. Towards a Theory of Subsegmental and Subfeatural Representations: The Phonology and Typology of Nasality (co-chaired with Lev Michael). 2021. Assistant Professor, McGill University.
Karee Garvin Palmer, Word-medial syllabification and gestural coordination (co-chaired with Keith Johnson). 2021. Assistant Professor, the Ohio State University.
Margaret E. Cychosz. Phonetic development in an agglutinating language (co-chaired with Keith Johnson). 2020. Assistant Professor, Stanford University.
Nicholas Rolle. Grammatical Tone: Typology and Theory (co-chaired with Larry Hyman). 2018. Currently Assistant Professor, Department of Linguistics, Princeton University.
Hannah Sande. Distributing morphologically conditioned phonology: Three case studies from Guébie. 2017. Currently Associate Professor in the Department of Linguistics, UC Berkeley.
Clare Sandy. Prosodic Prominence in Karuk (co-chaired with Andrew Garrett). 2017. Currently Adjunct Professor, San Jose State University.
Florian Lionnet. Subphonemic Teamwork: A Typology and Theory of Cumulative Coarticulatory Effects in Phonology (co-chaired with Larry Hyman). 2016. Currently Associate Professor in the Department of Linguistics, Princeton University.
Stephanie Shih. Towards Optimal Rhythm. 2014. Departments of Linguistics, Stanford University and the University of California, Berkeley (co-chaired with Arto Anttila). Currently Associate Professor in the Department of Linguistics, University of Southern California.
John Sylak-Glassman. Defining Natural Classes: The Phonology and Typology of Post-Velar Consonants. 2014. Currently Linguistic Engineer, Meta.
Eugenia Antic. The Representation of Morphemes in the Russian Lexicon (co-chaired with Eve Sweetser). 2010. Currently Software Engineer at FactSet Research Systems.
Teresa McFarland. The phonology and morphology of Filomeno Mata Totonac. 2009. Retired. Formerly lecturer in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese, University of California, Berkeley, 2009-2015.
Yuni Kim. Topics in the Phonology and Morphology of San Francisco del Mar Huave. 2008. Formerly Lecturer in the Department of Language and Linguistics at the University of Essex; currently Resesarch Bid Development Manager, Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, University of Surrey.
Anne Pycha. Morphological Sources of Phonological Length. 2008. Currently Associate Professor in the Department of Linguistics, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee.
David Mortensen. Formal and substantive scales in phonology (co-chaired with James Matisoff). 2006. Assistant Professor in the Department of Linguistics, University of Pittsburgh, 2006-2014. Currently Research Scientist, Language Technologies Institute, Carnegie Mellon University.
Mary Paster. Phonological conditions on affixation (co-chaired with Andrew Garrett). 2006. Currently Professor in the Department of Linguistics and Cognitive Science, Pomona College.
Alan Yu. The phonology and morphology of infixation. 2003. Currently Professor of Linguistics, UC Berkeley.
Jonathan Barnes. Positional neutralization: a phonologization approach to typological patterns. 2002. Currently Associate Professor in the Department of Linguistics, Romance Studies and Program in Applied Linguistics, Boston University.
Darya Kavitskaya. Compensatory lengthening: phonetics, phonology and diachrony. 2001. Currently Associate Professor in the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures, University of California, Berkeley.
Gunnar Hansson. Theoretical and typological issues in consonant harmony. 2001. Currently Associate Professor in the Department of Linguistics, University of British Columbia.
Cheryl Zoll. Parsing below the segment in a constraint-based framework. 1996. Associate Professor, Department of Linguistics, MIT (1998-2007); currently CEO, Tapestry Health, Florence, MA.
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