Non-intersective modification
I have developed and am continuing to build on a semantics for a class of non-intersective modifiers I call quality adjectives. These adjectives influence grammatical properties of the nominals they modify—they i) resist a non-intersective reading when modifying nouns that denote inherent classes, ii) alter the temporal properties of nominals, and iii) facilitate a natural interpretation of relational nouns with an unpronounced second argument. Peripheral topics I research in the context of this project and independently include as-phrases, hypothetical comparatives, manner and agent-oriented adverbials and their influence on the VP structure, the representation of nominalized degrees and their interface with modification, and the influence of genericity on the interpretation of relational nouns.
Expressive meaning in Ktunaxa
I am working to document and analyze expressive meaning in Ktunaxa. Examples of phenomena I am investigating include inventories of insults and compliments and their attitude-mappings, exclamative constrictions, and particles ʔat and siⱡ, which can be used to mark verbal aspect but also surface in questions of incredulity. This research is funded by the UBC Public Scholar’s Initiative and its planned output includes educational resources for the Ktunaxa community and elicitation resources on expressive meaning for linguistics fieldworkers.
The relationship between cross-categorical degree modification and monotonicity
I am working to empirically categorize and formally represent the semantic distribution of wiⱡiⱡ, an intensifier in Ktunaxa that can modify states, event intensity, and times. A common link between variables modifiable by wiⱡiⱡ is that they have a monotonic part-whole structure (as discussed by e.g. Schwarzschild 2002, Wellwood 2015). In my representation of wiⱡiⱡ, I aim to provide cross-linguistic support for this theory (which has mostly been discussed in the context of English/Indo-European languages), and shed light on degree modification strategies in languages like Ktunaxa that do not morpho-syntactically distinguish verbs and adjectives.
Nonlocal readings of adjectives
I am interested in adjectives that access the meaning of a proposition beyond the nominal it syntactically modifies. I have collaborative work with Daniel Greeson and Marcin Morzycki on the influence of modification on bare instrument nouns, such as plays good piano. I additionally research nonlocal readings of expressive language (e.g. I left my damn keys in the car, Potts 2007), and I am working with Marcin Morzycki to develop a precise semantics for transferred epithets, as first discussed by Hall 1973.
Wh- word inventories
I am a member of a project emerging from the UBC Questions Lab that investigates question word inventories across languages with a focus on strategies for asking for manners, methods, and reasons (i.e. the semantic distribution of English how and why and the availability of cross-linguistic counterparts or approximates).