Research Interests

How do classifier constructions combine rich visual representation with structured grammatical relations? These constructions play a central role in my research program, as studying them has directly shaped the broader questions I pursue across my work. By examining the morphosyntactic properties of classifiers, such as how arguments are introduced, how features are distributed across one or two hands, and how different classifier types interact with event structure, this project investigates how visually iconic elements are organized by grammar.

Do all parts of an event contribute equally to meaning? By examining how different event components interact with logical operators such as negation, this project investigates asymmetries in how event information is structured and interpreted. Drawing on experimental findings across multiple modalities, I show that manner occupies a distinct position in event structure and information structure, helping explain why some aspects of meaning are more resistant to negation than others.

How abstract does an element need to be to count as linguistic? By focusing on classifier constructions in sign languages, ideophones in Turkish, and highly depictive co-speech gestures in spoken English, I investigate how depiction contributes to meaning across languages and modalities. This line of work explores where linguistic structure ends, and depiction begins, and how languages systematically integrate visual and expressive resources into grammar.

I am interested in how age of acquisition shapes grammatical representation and interpretation in sign languages, with a particular focus on complex morphosyntactic structures. Because most deaf children do not have access to a natural sign language from birth, my research seeks to identify which components of grammar are resilient to delayed exposure and which are age-sensitive, to inform linguistically grounded assessment and intervention practices. Drawing on production and comprehension studies in Turkish Sign Language, I show that while delayed exposure does not affect core morphological encoding in classifier constructions, it systematically impacts argument expression, perspective-taking, and discourse-level strategies such as zero-anaphora resolution.

Through studies of verb doubling in a regional variety of Turkish and plural possession in Turkish and Sakha, I show how the same meanings can be built through distinct underlying grammatical processes, sometimes realized by clearly different forms and sometimes by forms that look strikingly similar. More broadly, by drawing on data from understudied languages and dialects, this work demonstrates that grammatical variation is not random, but systematically shaped by deeper organizational principles of human language.