.JPG)
PhD candidate in linguistics at the University of Washington. I study syntax within the framework of the Minimalist Program, and variationist sociolinguistics. In particular, I'm interested in synchronic and diachronic variation in third-person pronouns, and the interactions between pronouns and social identity.
I am interested in the syntax of pronouns, in particular gendered third-person pronouns in English. I am researching where gender is encoded in the structure of pronouns, and how pronouns fit into the structure of DP. I work in the Minimalist Program, and incorporate insights from sociolinguistics and pragmatics into my study of syntax.
Pronouns are not socially neutral placeholders for NPs; they encode social relationships, sometimes explicitly (as in Thai honorific pronouns) and sometimes implicitly (as in gendered pronouns in English). I investigate how third-person pronouns are used socially, including looking at the innovative use of singular they in gender neutral specific contexts in English. Changes in the English pronominal system are mediated by changes in how social relationships are organized and conceptualized.
Course materials available on Canvas or by request.
An overview of linguistic theory and subfields, covering phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, neurolinguistics, and sociolinguistics.
An introduction to sociolinguistics with a focus on American dialects, and covering variation based on age, ethnicity, region, gender, socioeconomic class, and other sociological variables.
A survey of the grammar of English through a descriptivist lens, focusing on using syntactic tests to find generalizations and patterns across parts of speech and phrases.
An introduction to generative syntax using X Bar Theory.
You can contact me through the Linguistics Department at the University of Washington.