I am an assistant professor in the Program in Linguistics, at Princeton University.

I briefly overview my research below – for more information, please use the links in the navigation menu above.

research overview

• Technical Version
• Accessible Version

• Broadly, my research can be described most generally as aimed at formally modelling linguistic data. I primarily focus on two domains: theoretical syntax and prosody.

  All of my work is done with an eye towards towards grammatical interfaces, exploring how structural properties in each domain relates to and diverges from those in another. While I am particularly interested in the syntax-prosody interface, my work regularly explores intersections with semantics/pragmatics, morphology, and linguistic variation.

  The interface aspects of my research are exemplified by my work in a multi-institutional research collective, intonation and its interfaces (int²), in which I am a lead PI. In 2021, we awarded a multi-year NSF research grant for a project on intonational meaning entitled “Exploring Variation in English Intonational Acoustic Phonetics from Grammatical Perspectives” (co-PIs: Alejna Brugos, Stefanie Shattuck-Hufnagel, Sunwoo Jeong, Nanette Veilleux).

  Some keywords for my research topics include: reflexive binding, anaphora, nominal syntax, singular they, argument structure, focus, phrasal stress, intonational phonology, intonational phonetics, intonational meaning.

  Further details can be found below and through my research projects page.

• Within the umbrella-discipline of linguistics, I am a formal linguist, modelling the abstract symbolic systems that work together to yield “language”.

  My research focuses on two distinct linguistic systems:
     1. The structural properties of phrases and sentences (“syntax”)
     2. The melodic and rhythmic properties of speech (“prosody”)

  I study how those systems related to one another (asking questions such as “which melodic properties of English depend on sentence structure?”), and how they relate to meaning (“semantics” and “pragmatics”), to the internal structure of words (morphology”), and to differences and similarities across groups of speakers (“linguistic variation”).

  Some keywords for my research topics include: pronouns, singular they, phrase structure, emphasis, intonation.

  Further details can be found below and through my research projects page.