General Linguistics
How can we capture linguistic diversity in morphology and syntax and at their interfaces with phonology and semantics/pragmatics? Solid empirical methods (corpus and experiment) provide the grounds for generalisability of our observations in different languages. Language theory forms the basis for formulating hypotheses to reduce the observed variation between languages to abstract principles that can be traced back to the cognitive foundations of the language system.
Against this background, our research group conducts investigations and projects in core areas of grammar, such as argument structure and information structure. Our linguistic focus is on the study of German and other European languages (Greek, Icelandic, Spanish, Hungarian), as well as various languages of Asia (Turkish, Chinese, Korean) and Central America (Mayan languages and Chibcha languages).
Designation of the professorship
General Linguistics