Aliaksei Akimenka 

I am a linguist who recently completed a PhD at the University of Michigan (April 2026). Broadly, my research focuses on theoretical syntax and its interface with semantics and emergent phenomena in natural language. In my dissertation, I investigated the mechanics of dislocation in two seemingly unrelated English constructions: Raising-to-Object and Tough-constructions. These constructions have traditionally been analyzed as involving syntactic movement. I challenge this view, arguing instead that the relevant dislocation effects in both constructions do not rely on classical A- or A̅ -movement resulting from (Internal) Merge. I am also interested in the philosophy of language and mind, particularly as it relates to the conceptual questions underlying contemporary Minimalist syntactic theory.