Matthew Reeve

Until December 2022, I was an Assistant Professor in the Department of Linguistics, Zhejiang University (Hangzhou, China). Among other positions, I have previously held postdocs at CLUNL, Lisbon (2015-2016) and the University of Southampton (2010-2011), and a teaching position at UCL (2011-2015).

My research interests are in the theory of grammar, specifically sentence structure (syntax) and interpretation (semantics, information structure, and so on). My work investigates the principles and regularities underlying the surface variation within and between human languages. Phenomena I have worked on include cleft and copular constructions, relative clauses, anaphoric binding, negative polarity items, agreement and extraction from noun phrases. I have published a monograph entitled Clefts and Their Relatives (2012, John Benjamins) and articles in journals including Lingua, Natural Language & Linguistic Theory, Syntax and Acta Linguistica Academica. I am currently working on topics including semi-lexical verbs (especially English have and get and Mandarin Chinese 被/bèi and 给/gěi) and verbal alternations (e.g., transitive-unaccusative, causative, passive, 'sporadic advancements').

I can be contacted by e-mail at uclymjr (first three letters will give you the institution and hence the domain!).