Generative linguistics
Current research in the field of generative linguistics
Welcome to the website of our Institute for Slavic Studies, which is dedicated to research in the field of linguistics. Our work is firmly rooted in theoretical orientations, in particular generative grammar and formal semantics. We pride ourselves on employing robust empirical methods, including the use of corpora and experiments, to improve our understanding of language in general and Slavic languages in particular. Thank you for exploring the fascinating world of language research with us.
In the field of Slavic language linguistics, our institute specializes in four main areas: Phonology, Morphology, Syntax and Semantics.
Topics include:
The nature of phonological representations: We are particularly interested in the representation and computation of the phonological behavior of syllable consonants, epenthetic vowels and consonants, stress, tone and pitch accent.
Verb and VP (verb phrase): We deal in particular with the nature of the verbal category, with verbal roots, prefixes and suffixes and their morhophonology and morphosyntax, with verbal prosody, as well as with verbal aspect and argument structure and with deverbal derivations (especially participles and nominalizations).
Noun and NP/DP (noun/determinative phrase): We examine the nature of the noun category, number, gender, referentiality, declension classes as well as nominalizations and their semantic status.
Pronouns: We analyze the use and structure of pronouns, in particular intensified pronouns, expletives and more generally situational pronouns, as well as pronominal gender, distance (i.e. proximity), modifiability.
Clausal embedding: We investigate how one clause can be embedded in another, as argument or adjunct, the syntactic aspects (especially structural variables) of different complementary clauses, the semantic contribution of clause-level adjuncts in particular (conditionals, concessives, counterfactuals, etc.) in Slavic languages and dialects.
Syntactic movement: We are particularly interested in vP-internal movement and its effects/constraints such as scope freezing, information-structural licensing, the role of phases.
Language contact and multilingualism: We are engaged in research on numerous contact phenomena, including borrowing and language mixing, heritage languages, multilingual language acquisition, morphological and phonological integration of loanwords.
Our team includes experts with extensive knowledge and experience:
- Boban Arsenijević
- Daria Seres
- Jelena Stojković
- Jelena Simić
- Maria Katarzyna Prenner
- Marko Simonović
- Stefan Milosavljević
- Svitlana Antonyuk
Ongoing projects:
- Hyperspacing the verb (international FWF/ARIS project with the University of Nova Gorica, PI: Boban Arsenijević)
- Language between redundancy and deficiency / The role of the self in pronominal reference (SFB, funded by the FWF, PI: Boban Arsenijević)
- Derivation of the discourse configurationality of (East) Slavic languages (funded by the FWF, PI: Svitlana Antonyuk)
- Multifunctionality in morphology (international ARIS/FWF project with the University of Nova Gorica, funded by the FWF, PI: Marko Simonović)
- Verbal suffixes and topic vowels: Different or the same? (Science and Research Scientific-technological cooperation mobility project with the University of Nova Gorica, funded by the Austrian Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research, PI: Boban Arsenijević)
Stay tuned as we explore fascinating aspects of linguistic phenomena in Slavic and beyond together!