Research

My research sits at the intersection of theoretical syntax, variationist sociolinguistics, and linguistic justice, with a sustained focus on Kaaps—a historically marginalised variety of Afrikaans. I approach Kaaps not simply as a subject of inquiry, but as a site of grammatical integrity, social complexity, and scholarly responsibility.

Trained in nanosyntactic theory and Afrikaans morphosyntax, my early work focused on the spell-out of adpositional structures. Since joining UWC in 2017, my research has expanded to explore clausal word order, syntactic doubling, and information structure in Kaaps, with an emphasis on empirical depth and socio-theoretical framing. I have published in Linguistic Variation, Languages, and other peer-reviewed journals, and my doctoral monograph was shortlisted for the AvT/Anéla Dissertation Award.

Beyond publications, I have developed a transcription protocol and a growing corpus of spoken Kaaps, and I am currently preparing a grant application to digitise and expand this into a publicly accessible research and teaching resource. My work is increasingly collaborative, with ongoing projects on socio-syntax, extraposition, and complementiser systems with students and colleagues locally and abroad.

This section of the site offers an overview of my current projects, selected publications, and conference presentations, as well as reflections on methodology and research-led teaching. It reflects a research programme grounded in formal precision, shaped by social commitment, and anchored in the broader project of describing, understanding, and giving scholarly weight to the grammars of the South.