Monograph Forthcoming? Yes!

Though progress at times may seem almost glacially slow, I continue to work on the chapters of a monograph that may one day be completed. Over the last months, I have continued work on Chapter 1—a Descriptive Sketch. Click on the link below for the latest version of Part 1 of this chapter (alternatively go to the Monograph page link at top)

Click to download pdf

Unpeeling an onion: what Vietnamese tells us about the lexicon-syntax interface (crossposting)

Last week, I had the great fortune to attend the International Conference on Linguistics Training and Research in Vietnam, held at USSH, VNU, Hanoi. My first visit to Vietnam, I hope the first of many. During my stay, I was able to give two presentations. I'm posting the slides from the first colloquium talk, which will be written up more fully shortly (and essentially a synopsis of Chapter 1 of the elusive, but not quite mythical, monograph). In the meantime, there should be enough on the slides to make for useful reading. If you have comments or questions—about Vietnamese syntax, though not about onions—please get in touch.

Click to view presentation

(I've replaced the html version with a pdf file, which should be easier to read)

Update: June 2011

Please note that revised versions of several chapters of the monograph are now available.
To access these, click on the links of this page: http://lingviet.blogspot.com/p/monograph-draft-chapters.html

Progress

Although I have not posted on this site for a long time, I have nevertheless been active, publishing a number of theoretical articles in journals and edited volumes that I hope are accurate and informative. Pre-publication drafts of these articles will shortly appear as new posts.

More interestingly, perhaps (as there is still the opportunity to advise me of my errors and help to improve the work!) I have recently been working fairly continuously on draft chapters of a new theoretical monograph on Vietnamese phrase-structure: Close to Perfect: Particles and Projections in Vietnamese Syntax [working title], which I aim to complete by June next year. This monograph consists of a Preface, followed by three main sections: the first containing a preliminary description of Vietnamese phrase-structure (based on the Vietnamese Online Grammar Project; the second, a theoretical discussion of some issues in formal syntax, in which I try to synthesize core Minimalism with alternative approaches to Minimalist grammar, and to bring this synthesis to bear on Vietnamese data; the third, offering a selection of revised articles, in which I analyze some of the more interesting properties of Vietnamese grammar.

As soon as I can overcome some formatting issues, my intention is to publish drafts of these chapters as posts on a new related site. Please check it out, and send me any comments you have.

VOG Update: Mood and Modality

Just completed first draft of the English introduction to the section on mood and modality. More work is necessary-and of course-the Vietnamese data are still missing, but it's a start

Introduction to Mood and Modality

Update on Relatives (Accessibility Hierarchy)

I've added some preliminary data (courtesy of Trang Phan) on the Accessibility Hierarchy to the section on postnominal structure

Update on Topicalization and Topic Prominence

Some changes have been made to the following sections on topicalization