Department Alumni – Doctoral Dissertations

Current position: Post-doctoral fellow, Center for Language Sciences, University of Rochester

The Nature of the Semantic Scale: Evidence from Sign Language Research
by Kathryn Davidson
Chairs: Ivano Caponigro & Rachel Mayberry

Current position: Post-doctoral researcher, Department of Linguistics, University of Connecticut

Eye movements in reading as rational behavior
by Klinton Bicknell
Chair: Roger Levy

Current position: Post-doctoral researcher, Department of Psychology, University of California, San Diego

Ellipsis Reconsidered
by Laura Kertz
Chair: Andrew Kehler

Current position: Assistant Professor, Department of Cognitive Science, Linguistics and Psychology, Brown University

From words to structure: How syntax can affect the distribution and interpretation of verbs and their arguments. Three case studies from Japanese.
by Shin Fukuda
Chairs: Ivano Caponigro and John Moore

Current position: Assistant Professor, Department of East Asian Languages and Literature, University of Hawai'i at Manoa

The Acquisition of Ungrammaticality: Learning a Subset in L2 Phonotactics
by Cynthia Kilpatrick
Chair: Eric Baković

Current position: Assistant Professor, Department of Linguistics & TESOL, University of Texas at Arlington

Processing of Long-Distance Syntactic and Referential Gap-filler Dependencies: Evidence from Reading time, ERP and Eye-tracking Data in Korean
by Nayoung Kwon
Chair: Robert Kluender

Current position: Assistant Professor, Department of English Language and Literature, Konkuk University

Coherence-Driven Effects in Sentence & Discourse Processing
by Hannah Rohde
Chair: Andrew Kehler

Current position: Lecturer, Department of Linguistics and English Language, University of Edinburgh

A Connectionist Model of the Effect of Pro-Drop on SVO Languages
by Ezra van Everbroeck
Chairs: Maria Polinsky and Gary Cottrell (Computer Science & Engineering)

Current position: IT Manager, Department of Linguistics, University of California, San Diego

A Crosslinguistic Investigation of Palatalization
by Nicoleta Bateman
Chair: Sharon Rose

Current position: Assistant Professor, Department of Liberal Studies, California State University, San Marcos

Comparatively Speaking: A Psycholinguistic Study of Optionality in Grammar
by Jeremy Boyd
Chair: Farrell Ackerman

Current position: Post-doctoral researcher, Center for Research and Language, University of California, San Diego

Eye Gaze in American Sign Language: Linguistic Functions for Verbs and Pronouns
by Robin Thompson
Chairs: Robert Kluender and Karen Emmorey

Current position: Researcher, Deafness Cognition and Language (DCAL) Research Centre, University College London

Agreement in Gestures and Signed Languages:
The use of directionality to indicate referents involved in actions
by Shannon Casey
Chair: Robert Kluender

Processing Information Structure:
Evidence from Comprehension and Production
by H. Wind Cowles
Chair: Robert Kluender

Current position: Assistant Professor, Department of Linguistics, University of Florida

Phonetics of Language Attrition: vowel production and articulatory setting in the speech of Western Armenian heritage speakers
by Linda Godson
Co-chairs: Maria Polinsky & Sharon Rose

Current position: Heritage Language Initiative Coordinator, Department of World Languages & Literatures, Portland State University

Morphological Faithfulness to Syntactic Representations
by Michael Hughes
Chair: David Perlmutter

Current position: Associate Professor & Chair, Department of Modern Language Studies, California State University, San Marcos

The Effect of Phonological Status on the Acquisition of New Contrasts: Evidence from Spanish and Japanese L2 Learners of English
by Alicia Muñoz Sánchez
Chair: Sharon Rose

Current position: Spanish Language Academic Coordinator, Department of Linguistics, University of California, San Diego

Discourse Adjectives
by Gina Taranto
Chair: Chris Barker

Current position: Senior Manager of Strategic Initiatives, H5

Event-Related Brain Potentials in the Processing of
Japanese Wh-Questions 
by Mieko Ueno
Chair: Robert Kluender

The Acquisition of Verbs and Argument Structure Constructions
by Nitya Sethuraman
Chair: Ronald W. Langacker & Elizabeth Bates

Relating Parsers and Grammars: On the structure and real-time comprehension of
English infinitival complements
by Matthew S. Walenski
Chairs: John Moore & Robert Kluender

Phonotactic Interactions: A Non-Reductionist Approach to Phonology
by Fumiko Kumashiro
Co-Chairs: Ronald W. Langacker & Matthew Chen

The Conceptual Basis of Grammar: A Cognitive Approach to Japanese Clausal Structure
by Toshiyuki Kumashiro
Chair: Ronald W. Langacker

The Internally Headed Relative Clause Construction in Japanese: A Cognitive Grammar Approach
by Masuhiro Nomura
Chair: Ronald W. Langacker

Information Structure, Judgment Forms, and the Interpretation of Indefinites in Spanish
by William J. Byrne
Co-Chairs: John Moore & Adele Goldberg

Fuzhou Tone Sandhi
by Lee-Lee Lily Chan
Chair: Matthew Chen

The Rhetoric of Grammar: Scalar Reasoning & Polarity Sensitivity
by Michael Israel
Chair: Ronald W. Langacker

A Prosodic Theory of Hiatus Resolution
by Martha Baird Senturia
Chair: Kathleen Hubbard

Cantonese Exceed Comparatives
by Sui-Sang Mok
Chair: John Moore

Emergent Grammatical Relations: An Inductive Learning System
by William C. Morris
Chair: Adele Goldberg; Co-Chair: Jeffrey Elman

Negation, Polarity, and Indefiniteness: A Comparative Study of Negative Constructions in Spanish & English
by Raul Aranovich
Chair: John Moore; Co-Chair: S.-Y. Kuroda

Words & Music Together: The Rhythms of Songs
by Phyllis Muller
Chair: Matthew Chen

Neurolinguistic Evidence of Some Conceptual Properties of Nouns & Verbs
by Margaret Kimberly Kellogg
Chair: Robert Kluender

The Mental Representation of Verbs
by Kathleen V. Ahrens
Advisors: Adele Goldberg & David Swinney (Psychology)

The Preterite & Imperfect in Spanish: Past Situation vs. Past Viewpoint
by Aintzane Doiz-Bienzobas
Advisors: Ronald W. Langacker & Suzanne Kemmer

Object Relatives Viewed Through Behavioral, Electrophysiological and Modeling Techniques
by Jill Weckerly
Chair: Marta Kutas; Co-chair: Jeff Elman

Time & Tense in Narrative and in Everyday Language
by L. Michelle Cutrer
Advisor: Suzanne Kemmer

Constraint-Based Phonology & Morphology: A Survey of Languages in China
by Hui-Chuan Hsu
Advisor: Matthew Chen

Discourse & Definiteness: Synchronic & Diachronic Perspectives
by Richard Epstein
Advisors: Suzanne Kemmer & Gilles Fauconnier

Pragmatics, Subjectivity and the Grammaticalization of the English Perfect
by Kathleen Carey
Advisor: Suzanne Kemmer

A Connectionist Approach to Nominal Inflection: Paradigm Patterning & Analogy in Finnish
by Ann Thyme
Advisor: Farrell Ackerman

Syntax, Discourse and Acts of the Mind: A Study of the Indicative-Subjunctive Contrast in Spanish
by Errapel Mejias-Vicandi
Advisor: S.-Y. Kuroda

The Grammar of Inalienability: Possession & Noun Incorporation in Paraguayan Guarani
by Maura Velazquez-Castillo
Advisor: Suzanne Kemmer

The Structure of Wanka Quechua Evidential Categories
by Rick Floyd
Advisor: Suzanne Kemmer

Complementation in French: A Cognitive Perspective
by Michel J. R. Achard
Advisor: Ronald W. Langacker

Middle Voice in Modern Greek
by Linda Manney
Advisor: Ronald W. Langacker

Discontinuous Morphology in Modern Aramaic
by Johanna Rubba
Advisor: Ronald W. Langacker

Paths Through Conceptual Structure: Constraints on Pronominal Anaphora
by Karen Ann van Hoek
Advisor: Ronald W. Langacker

Middle Voice: The Case of Spanish 'se'
by Ricardo Maldonado Soto
Advisor: Ronald W. Langacker

Narrative Time
by Jeff Lansing
Advisor: Ronald W. Langacker

Topics in Chinese Phrasal Tonology
by Hongming Zhang
Advisor: Matthew Chen

Aspects of Polish Syntax
by Katarzyna Anna Dziwirek
Advisor: David Perlmutter

Thematic Relations, Relational Networks, and Multistratal Representations
by Patrick Michael Farrell
Advisor: David Perlmutter

Syntax, Rhythm, & Tone: A Triangular Relationship
by Yuchau E. Hsiao
Advisor: Matthew Chen

Cognitive Constraints on Variables in Syntax
by Robert E. Kluender
Advisors: Marta Kutas & Jeffrey Elman

Phonological Representation & Processing in Connectionist Networks
by Mary L. Hare
Advisor: Jeff Elman

Ordered Chaos: A Cognitive Model for the Interpretation of English Noun-Noun Compounds
by Mary Ellen Ryder
Advisor: Jeff Elman

A Grammar of Jamul Diegueno
by Amy W. Miller
Advisor: Margaret Langdon

A Cognitive Analysis of Grammatical Relations, Case, and Transitivity in Samoan
by Kenneth William Cook
Advisor: Ronald W. Langacker

The Stony Idiom of the Brain: A Study in the Semantics & Syntax of Metaphors
by Heatherbell Fong
Advisor: Ronald W. Langacker

Universal Constraints on Relationally Complex Clauses
by John Albert Bickford
Advisor: David Perlmutter

The Semantics of Dative & Accusative in German: An Investigation in Cognitive Grammar
by Michael Smith
Advisor: Ronald W. Langacker

Syntactic & Semantic Aspects of Chinese Tone Sandhi
by Tony Hung
Advisor: Matthew Chen

Towards a Cognitive Model of Transitivity
by Sally Ann Rice
Advisor: Ronald W. Langacker

Topics in French Syntax
by Geraldine Legendre
Advisor: David Perlmutter

Parameter Setting: Evidence from Use, Acquisition, and Breakdown in American Sign Language
by Diane C. Lillo-Martin
Advisor: Edward Klima

A Grammar Sketch & Comparative Study of Eastern Mono
by Evan Norris
Advisor: Ronald W. Langacker

The Relational Structure of Turkish Syntax
by Inci Ozkaragoz
Advisor: Sandra Chung

The Syntax of Pronouns in Dogrib (Athapaskan): Some Theoretical Consequences
by Leslie Saxon
Advisor: Sandra Chung

The Prosodic Domain of Tone Sandhi in Chinese
by Chi-lin Shih
Advisor: Matthew Chen

Reduction & Anaphoric Relations in Chinese
by Mei-du Li Erickson
Advisor: Matthew Chen

The Syntax of Variable Binding in Palauan
by Carol Georgopoulos
Advisor: Sandra Chung

Object & Raising in Spanish
by Nora Gonzalez
Advisor: David Perlmutter

Parallel Structures in Syntax
by Grant Todd Goodall
Advisors: Sandra Chung & Yuki Kuroda

The Semantics of English Spatial Prepositions
by Bruce Hawkins
Advisor: Ronald Langacker

Description of Space in French
by Claude Vandeloise
Advisor: Ronald Langacker

Studies in Lakhota Grammar
by Janis Shirley Williamson
Advisor: Sandra Chung

The Interaction of Morphology & Syntax in American Sign Language
by Carol Ann Padden
Advisor: David Perlmutter

A Formal Theory of Vowel Harmony
by Yasu-Hiko Tohsaku
Advisor: Sanford Scahne

Cora Locationals & Structured Imagery
by Eugene H. Casad
Advisor: Ronald Langacker

Object & Absolutive in Halkomelem Salish
by Donna Blanche Gerdts
Advisor: Margaret Langdon

A Study of Absolute Phrases within the Government Binding Framework
by Roberta Lynn Ishihara
Advisor: Yuki Kuroda

Icons, Analogues, and Morphemes: The Acquisition of Verb Agreement in American Sign Language
by Richard Paul Meier
Advisor: Edward Klima

A Generative Phonology of Modern Icelandic
by Gregory Charles Richter
Advisor: Margaret Langdon

The Lexicon in a Model of Language Production
by Joseph Paul Stemberger
Advisor: Jeffrey Elman

Choctaw Clause Structure
by William Daniel Davies
Advisor: David Perlmutter

A Lexico-Semantic Analysis of English Verb Particle Constructions with OUT and UP
by Susan Jean Lindner
Advisor: Ronald Langacker

The Structure of Seri
by Stephen Alan Marlett
Advisor: Margaret Langdon

The Semantics of Raising Constructions
by John Newman
Advisor: Ronald Langacker

Progressives in Yuman & Romance
by Susan Ann Norwood
Advisor: Margaret Langdon

The Transivity-Related Morphology of Tetelcingo Nahuatl: An Exploration in Space Grammar
by David Harold Tuggy
Advisor: Ronald Langacker

Phonological & Temporal Properties of Cocopa
by Birgitte Holt Bendixen
Advisor: Margaret Langdon

Clause Union in Chamorro and in Universal Grammar
by Jeanne Darrigrand Gibson
Advisor: Sandra Chung

The Syntax of the Albanian Verb Complex
by Philip Laurence Hubbard
Advisor: David Perlmutter

Breton Relativization
by Phyllis Gafford King
Advisor: Margaret Langdon

Directive Speech Acts: A Theoretical Investigation
by Patrick Henry Murray
Advisor: Yuki Kuroda

Short-term Coding Processes of Congenitally Deaf Signers of ASL: Natural Language Considerations
by Michael Arthur Shand
Advisor: Edward Klima

The Lexicon in Phonological Theory Data from Frisian
by Peter Mejies Tiersma
Advisor: Matthew Chen

American Sign Language Typology
by Geoffrey Restall Coulter
Advisor: Edward Klima

Pragmatics, Formal Theory and The Analysis of Presuppositions
by John David Dinsmore
Advisor: Edward Klima

Phonological Issues in North Alaskan Inupiaq
by Lawrence David Kaplan
Advisor: Margaret Langdon

Writing as a Second Language: Psycholinguistic Processes in Composition
by Brooke Neilson
Advisor: Edward Klima

Studies in Niuean Syntax
by William John Seiter
Advisor: Sandra Chung

Semantic Aspects of Verbal Grammaticization
by William Rufus Mathews III
Advisor: Ronald Langacker

The French-based Creoles of the Indian Ocean: An Analysis & Comparison
by Robert Antoine Papen
Advisor: Margaret Langdon

Lexical Borrowing in American Sign Language: Phonological & Morphological Restructuring
by Robbin M. Battison
Advisor: Edward Klima

Problems in the Developmental Psycholinguistics of Bilingualism: Language Acquisition & Language Use
by Coral Rhodes Bergman
Advisors: Sanford Schane & Margaret Langdon

Havasupai Songs: A Linguistic Perspective
by Leanne Hinton
Advisor: Margaret Langdon

An Investigation into the Syntactic Structure of American Sign Language
by Scott Kent Liddell
Advisor: Edward Klima

The Semantics of English Complementation
by Arthur Kean Spears
Advisor: Ronald Langacker

Indo-European Passive Structures: A Historical-Comparative Perceptive
by Hariklia Statha-Halikas
Advisor: Ronald Langacker

Stability of Dichotic Listening Scores of Left- and Right-handed Subjects
by Anne Burnham Thistle
Advisor: Timothy Smith

Word Order Change in Chinese: Some Contributing Factors & Implications
by Yat-Shing Cheung
Advisor: Benjam T'sou

Investigations in Pragmatic Theory
by Samuel Seth Epstein
Advisor: Yuki Kuroda

Indirect Speech Acts, Speech Act Theory, and Common Sense
by Donald Forman
Advisor: Benjamin T'sou

Some Aspects of the Historical Development of Signs in American Sign Language
by Nancy Frishberg
Advisor: Edward Klima

Japanese Interrogatives: A Synchronic & Diachronic Analysis
by Kunihiko Ogawa
Advisor: Yuki Kuroda

Topics in Irish Syntax & Semantics
by Nancy Stenson
Advisor: Margaret Langdon

Palauan Phonology & Morphology
by Jo Ann Flora
Advisor: Margaret Langdon

Relativization & Complementation in Diegueno: Noun Phrases as Nouns
by Larry Gorbet
Advisor: Margret Langdon

A Study of Japanese Predicate Complement Construction
by Masako Inoue
Advisor: Yuki Kuroda

Topics in Mojave Syntax
by Pamela Munro
Advisor: Margaret Langdon

Figurative Patterns & Redundancy in the Lexicon
by William Nagy
Advisor: Edward Klima

Studies in the Grammar of Kihungan
by Alexis Takizala
Advisor: Yuki Kuroda; Co-Chair: Ronald Langacker

The Phonology of Nasal Vowels in Modern French
by Bernard Tranel
Advisor: Sanford Schane

On Some Phonetic Effects in Dichotic Listening
by Peter Benson
Advisor: Tim Smith

Aspects of Proto-Polynesian Syntax
by Ross Clark
Advisor: Paul Chapin

Some Topics in Navajo Syntax
by Suzette Elgin
Advisor: Margaret Langdon

The Positional Tendencies of Modal Elements & Their Theoretical Implications
by Susan Steele
Advisor: Ronald Langacker

Complementation Phenomena in Hausa
by John Eulenberg
Advisor: Edward Klima

On Deletion Phenomena in English
by John Grinder
Advisor: Edward Klima

Syntactic Change: A Cupan (Uto-Aztecan) Case Study
by Roderick Jacobs
Advisor: Ronald Langacker

A Transformational Analysis of Infinitival & Gerundive Complements in English
by Quentin Pizzini
Advisor: Edward Klima

A Generative Phonology of Noun & Vowel Harmony in Hungarian
by Marianne Esztergar
Advisor: Sanford Schane

Theoretical Implications of Some Global Phenomena in Syntax
by Gilles Fauconnier
Advisor: Yuki Kuroda

Old French Phonology & Morphology
by Douglas Walker
Advisor: Sanford Schane