dr.  E.H.  (Eva)  van Lier
Leerstoelgroep Theoretische Taalwetenschap


Spuistraat 210
1012 VT Amsterdam

Telephone


Email
no.E.H.vanLier@uva.nl.no

Description of PhD research project
My PhD project is a typological investigation of the relationship between parts-of-speech systems of languages on the one hand, and their subordination strategies on the other hand. More specifically, it invesigates the hypothesis that multi-functionality versus functional specialization of lexeme classes in particular languages will be reflected in similar distributional patterns of subordinate clauses in these languages. This prediction is tested on a balanced sample of 50 languages. On a more general level, the study aims at integrating lexical, syntactic and morphological typology of languages, from a functionalist perspective.

 
Publications

Van Lier, Eva 2004: Straattaal. Neerlandica Extra Muros. February 2004.

Van Lier, Eva 2005:The explanatory power of typological hierarchies: developmental perspectives on non-verbal predication. In: Casper de Groot & Kees Hengeveld (eds.): Morphosyntactic Expression in Functional Grammar. (Functional Grammar Series 27). New York/Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.

Dikker, Suzanne & Eva van Lier 2005: The interplay between syntactic and conceptual information: Agreement domains in FDG. In: J.Lachlan Mackenzie & María de los Ángeles Gómez-Gonzáles (eds.): Studies in Functional Discourse Grammar. (Linguistic Insights 26). Bern: Peter Lang.

Verhagen, J., Lier, E., Dikker, S., Cardoso, H., & Arends, J. (2006). On the presence versus absence of morphological marking in four Romance-based creoles. In Parth Bhatt & Ingo Plag (Eds.), The structure of creole words: Segmental, syllabic and morphological aspects. (Linguistische Arbeiten 505) Tübingen: Niemeyer.

Van Lier, Eva. 2006: Parts-of-speech systems and dependent clauses: a typological study. Folia Linguistica 40/3-4, 239-304.

Hengeveld Kees & Eva van Lier 2008: Lexical and complex heads in Functional Discourse grammar. Studies in Language 32:3, 753-785.

Fischer, Rafael & Eva van Lier: "The distribution of parts of speech and dependent clauses in Cofán." Submitted to: Pieter Muysken, Katharina Haude & Rijk van Gijn (Eds): Subordination in South American Indian Languages. Amstredam: Benjamins.

Don, Jan & Eva van Lier: "On the lack of word-class distinction: flexibility and conversion." Submitted to: Jan Rijkhoff & Eva van Lier (Eds): Flexible word classes: a typological study of underspecified parts-of-speech. (Oxford University Press)

Hengeveld, Kees & Eva van Lier: "A functional map of Parts-of-Speech". Submitted to special issue of Linguistic Discovery (Eds: Andrej Malchukov, Michael Cysouw & Martin Haspelmath).

Professional activities

Conference presentations:

‘Inflectional morphology in four Romance-based Creoles.’ Paper presented at the International Workshop on the Phonology and Morphology of Creole Languages. Siegen, Germany. October 2003 (together with J. Arends, H. Cardoso, S. Dikker en J. Verhagen).

‘Streetlanguage: a multilingal variety spoken by multi-ethnic groups of adolescents in cities of the Netherlands.’ Poster presented at the 15th Sociolinguistics Symposium (SS 15), April 2004, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.

‘On the whereabouts of gender and number agreement: location and accessibility.’ Paperpresented at the 11th International Functional Grammar Conference (ICFG 11), September 2004, Gijón, Spain. (together with Suzanne Dikker).

‘Predicting the coding and distribution of dependent predicateson the basis of parts-of-speech systems: a typological pilot study.’ Presented as a paper at the 38th Conference of the Societas Linguistica Europea (SLE 38) (Formal, Functional, and Typological Perspectives on Discourse and Grammar.), September 2005, Valencia, Spain.
Presented as a poster at the 5th Mediterranean Morphology Meeting (MMM5), September 2005, Fréjus, France.

‘The distributional parallel between Parts-of-Speech and dependent clauses’. Paper presented at the Conference on Universalityand Particularity in Parts-of-Speech Systems. Amsterdam, June 8-10 2006.

'Lexical and complex heads and modifiers in FDG.' With Kees Hengeveld. Paper presented at the 12th International Conference on Functional Grammar. Sao José de Rio Preto, Brazil. July 19, 2006.

'Flexibility and rigidity of Parts-of-Speech classes and Dependent clauses.'Paper presented at the 2nd Conference on Syntax of the World's Languages (SWL2), Lancaster, 14-17 September 2006.

'Parts-of-Speech and Dependent clauses: a typological study.' Presentation at Nieuw Amsterdams Peil 2006, Amsterdam, September 29, 2006.

'The distribution of Parts-of-Speech and Dependent Clauses in Cofán.' Paper with Rafael Fischer, presented at the Americanist Workshop on Subordination, Max Plack Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, 15 December 2007, and at the Annual Meeting of the Society for the Study of the Indigenous Languages of the Americas (SSILA), Anaheim, California,  4-7 January 2007.

"On the lack of word-class distinction: flexibility and conversion." Paper with Jan Don, presented at the Workshop on Flexible Languages, Amsterdam, April 20, 2007.

"Word classes and dependent clauses: Functional rigidity versus flexibility." Paper presented at the the 7th Conference of the Association for Linguistic Typology (ALT7) in Paris, 25-28th September 2007.

"A functional map of parts of speech." Paper presented with Kees Hengeveld on the Workshop on Semantic Maps, methods and application, Paris, 29 September 2007.

"Distributional patterns of parts of speech and dependent clauses." Guest talk given at the Max Planck Insitute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipig, Germany. 25 oktober 2007, and at the Typology Colloquium of Leipzig University, 1 November 2007.

"Flexibility in grammar: its diversity and its limits." Paper presented with Jan Don and Kees Hengeveld at the 3rd conference of Syntax of the World's Languages in Berlin, 26 September 2008.

Teaching:

Co-teacher of 'Inleiding Taalwetenschap' (Introduction to linguistics) and 'Taaltheorie' (Linguistic theories). Both in Dutch.

Co-teacher of 'The essence of Language', master course for non-linguists, in English.

Book editing:

Co-editor (with Jan Rijkhoff) of a volume on Flexible word classes: a typological study of underspecified parts-of-speech. Submitted to Oxford University Press.

Reviewing:

Reviews for the following journals:  Alfa Revista Lingüística, Studies in Language, Linguistic Discovery, and Language Sciences.

'Talenquiz' (Language quiz):

Every month, I contribute a question to the 'Talenquiz'. This is an initiative of the Taalstudio, an organization in Amsterdam that develops products and projects based on linguistic research. The 'Talenquiz' is a collection of interesting and fun questions (and answers, and topics for discussion) about language, released monthly and aimed at the upper grades of Dutch secondary school. For more information and/or registration,check the following website: http://www.taalstudio.nl/talenquiz/index.html . 

Organisational activities:

January 2006 - Febraury 2007: PhD-representative in the advisory board of the Amsterdam Center for Language and Communication (ACLC)

February-April 2007: Organiser of international workshop on flexible languages, April 20, 2007, at the University of Amsterdam.


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CV / Academic Training:

1997-1998:  Dutch language and linguistics, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen

1998-1999:  Spanish language and linguistics, University of Amsterdam

1999-2002:  General Linguistics, University of Amsterdam
M.A. Thesis: ‘Typologie en Tweede Taalverwerving: De verwerving van complementconstructies in het Nederlands als tweede taal.’

2002-2003:  MPhil Linguistics, Universitity of Amsterdam
Thesis: ‘The explanatory power of typological hierarchies: developmental perspectives on non-verbal predication.’
Student assistant of the Steunpunt Nederlands als vreemde taal, University of Amsterdam/Nederlandse Taalunie
2003-2004: Researcher atthe Meertens Instituut (Koninklijke Academie van Wetenschappen), Amsterdam.

2004-today: PhD Theoretical Linguistics, Amsterdam Centre for Language and Communication (ACLC), University of Amsterdam