Projects
Functional and Cognitive Linguistics (grammar and typology). University of Antwerp
Towards a diachronic typology of the middle voice KU Leuven
The middle voice is a complex linguistic domain, as it lies at the interface between morphosyntax and the structure of the lexicon. A typical example of a middle marking language is Dutch, in which the ‘reflexive’ pronoun zich in fact behaves as a middle marker, as it is used either lexically with verbs that only occur with the reflexive, e.g. zich vergissen ‘be mistaken’, or to derive reflexives from transitive verbs, e.g. zich(zelf) slaan ...
Re-configuring 'NPs' in Australian languages: Towards an alternative typology KU Leuven
Languages are traditionally classified as either having classic noun phrases (NPs), or not having phrasal construal at all. However, there are strong indications that many languages lie in between these two extremes, and that they have more than one type of construal available (e.g. 'classic' NP, discontinuous expressions, expressions with alternating positions for case markers, etc.). Findings from my previous research suggest that ...
Insurbordination in the deontic domain: a semantic and constructional typology. KU Leuven
English variable tag questions: a systematic typology of their interpesonal meanings. KU Leuven
Sabbatical Jean-Christophe Verstraete: Paman languages of Princess Charlotte Bay (northeastern Australia): typology and diachrony KU Leuven
The planned research focuses on the study of Paman (< Pama-Nyungan) languages from Princess Charlotte Bay in north-eastern Australia, from a typological and historical-comparative perspective. In the past five years I have made a number of breakthroughs in the historical-comparative study of these languages, including new evidence for genetic subgrouping (Verstraete 2018a) and a new model for the evolution of phonotactic structure ...
A semantic typology of present-tense constructions. University of Antwerp
Counterfactuals in the History of Greek: An Enriched Diachronic Typology using a Context-Sensitive Evolutionary Model. Ghent University
This project analyses counterfactual constructions in the history of Ancient Greek (from 750BCE to 100CE). These counterfactuals are largely unstudied and more diverse in types than analysed before in linguistics. Previous research has yielded premature generalizations on the nature and evolution of counterfactuals. Therefore I will develop a quantifiable context-sensitive evolutionary model to provide an enriched diachronic typology of ...
Counterfactuals in the History of Greek: An Enriched Diachronic Typology using a Context-Sensitive Evolutionary Model Ghent University
(1) If I were you,… (2) I should (have) know(n). (3) If only she had listened. These constructions are counterfactuals. They speculate about an unrealizable state of affairs based on an unrealized condition. Every language has these expressions but in varying forms. Counterfactuals originate from formerly non-counterfactual expressions through semantic bleaching, phonological reduction etc. in a grammaticalization cycle. Cross-linguistic ...