Olga Fischer

Olga Fischer Emeritus Professor of Germanic Languages, in particular English Linguistics, University of Amsterdam

 

Curriculum Vitae

Born in Hilversum, The Netherlands in 1951. 'Kandidaatsexamen' (BA) in English Language and Linguistics, 1973 (University of Amsterdam). MA in the 'History of English and General Linguistics', 1975 (University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne), supervisor MA thesis, Prof. Barbara Strang, title 'A Comparative Study of Philosophical Terms in the Alfredian and Chaucerian Boethius'. 'Doctoraalexamen' (MA) in English Language and Literature, 1976 (University of Amsterdam). Doctorate, University of Amsterdam, 1990 (doctoral thesis: "Syntactic Change and Causation: Developments in Infinitival Constructions in English"). Lecturer in Historical Linguistics, University of Amsterdam, 1977-1992. Reader in Historical Linguistics, University of Amsterdam, 1992-1999. Professor of Germanic Languages, University of Amsterdam 1999-2016. Professor Emeritus University of Amsterdam 2016-. Visiting scholar, University of Manchester, 1985-86; Visiting professor, University of Zurich, January-February 2000, University of Innsbruck March-April 2002, University of Vienna March-July 2006, March-July 2009, University of Lille 3, September-December 2012. Has published extensively in international journals in the area of English historical linguistics, especially historical syntax. Interest in syntactic change related to changes in word order, comparison with developments in Dutch and German, grammaticalisation, iconicity (especially analogy), and interaction between grammaticalisation and iconisation in language change.

I. Bibliography


A. Books: as (Co-)Author

(1990) "Syntactic Change and Causation: Developments in Infinitival Constructions in English." Dissertation, University of Amsterdam.

(1992) 'Syntax', chapter 4 in the Middle English volume (Volume II, 1066-1476) of The Cambridge History of the English Language, ed. by Norman Blake. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 207-408.

(2000) With Ans van Kemenade, Willem Koopman en Wim van der Wurff, The Syntax of Early English, Cambridge Syntax Guides, Cambridge University Press.

(2006) with Wim van der Wurff, 'Syntax' , in A History of the English Language edited by David Denison and Richard Hogg . Cambridge: CUP. 109-198.

(2007) Morphosyntactic Change. Functional and Formal Perspectives. Oxford: OUP.

(2017) with Hendrik De Smet and Wim van der Wurff, A Brief History of English Syntax. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.


B.1. Books: as (Co-)Editor

With Roger Eaton, Willem Koopman en Frederike van der Leek,
(1985) Papers from the 4th International Conference on English Historical Linguistics. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

(1987) Explanation and Linguistic Change. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

With Willem Koopman,
(1988) Current Research in Dutch and Belgian Universities in Old English, Middle English and Historical Linguistics. Six Papers read at the 9th Philological Symposium. Utrecht, November 1987. Amsterdam.

(1994) Current Research in Dutch and Belgian Universities in Old English, Middle English and Historical Linguistics. Six Papers read at the 14th Philological Symposium. Utrecht, November 1994. Amsterdam. Faculteit der Letteren.

With Wolfgang Müller,
(2003) From Sign to Signing. Iconicity in Language and Literature 3. Amsterdam: Benjamins

With Max Nänny,
(1999) Form Miming Meaning: Iconicity in Language and Literature. Amsterdam: Benjamins.

(2001)The Motivated Sign. Iconicity in Language and Literature 2. Amsterdam: Benjamins.

(2001) Iconicity. Special issue of the European Journal of English Studies Vol. 5.1.

With Anette Rosenbach and Dieter Stein
(2000) Pathways of Change: Grammaticalization in English. Amsterdam: Benjamins.

With Muriel Norde and Harry Perridon
(2004) Up and Down the Cline - The Nature of Grammaticalization. Amsterdam: Benjamins.

With Costantino Maeder and William Herlofsky
(2005) Outside-In Inside-Out. (Iconicity in Language and Literature 4). Amsterdam: Benjamins.

With Elzbieta Tabakowska and Christina Ljungberg
(2007) Insistent Images. (Iconicity in Language and Literature 5). Amsterdam: Benjamins.

With Jac Conradie, Ronel Johl, Marthinus Beukes and Christina Ljungberg
(2010) Signergy. (Iconicity in Language and Literature 9). Amsterdam: Benjamins   

With Pascal Michelucci, and Chrisitina Ljungberg, 
(2011). Semblance and Signification (Iconicity in Language and Literature, 10). Amsterdam: Benjamins. 

With Lars Elleström, and Christina Ljungberg
(2013) Iconic Investigations (Iconicity in Language and Literature 12). Amsterdam: Benjamins

With Matthias Bauer, Angelika Zirker and Christina Ljungberg. (2017) Dimensions of Iconicity (Iconicity in Language and Literature 15). Amsterdam: Benjamins.

With Pamela Perniss and Christina Ljungberg.(2020)  Operationalizing Iconicity  (Iconicity in Language and Literature 17). Amsterdam: Benjamins

With Sara Lenninger, Christina Ljungberg and Elżbieta Tabakowska. (2022)  Iconicity in Cognition and across Semiotic Systems  (Iconicity in Language and Literature 18). Amsterdam: Benjamins

(In preparation), with Kimi Akita and Pamela Perniss, The Oxford Handbook of Iconicity in Language. Oxford: OUP.

B.2. Parts of Books: as Editor

(1999) The chapter on 'Language', The Year's Work in English Studies 77, 1-129. Oxford: Blackwell.
(2000) The chapter on 'Language', The Year's Work in English Studies 78, 1-155. Oxford: Blackwell.
(2001) The chapter on 'Language', The Year's Work in English Studies 79, 1-130. Oxford: OUP.
(2002) The chapter on 'Language', The Year's Work in English Studies 80, 1-116. Oxford: OUP.
(2002) The chapter on 'Language', The Year's Work in English Studies 81, 1-131. Oxford: OUP .
(2003) The chapter on 'Language' in The Year's Work in English Studies 82, 1-114. Oxford: OUP.
(2004) The chapter on 'Language' in The Year's Work in English Studies 83, 1-108. Oxford: OUP.
(2005) The chapter on 'Language' in The Year's Work in English Studies 84, 1-129. Oxford: OUP.
(2006) The chapter on 'Language' in The Year's Work in English Studies 85, 1-130.Oxford: OUP
(2007) The chapter on 'Language' in The Year's Work in English Studies 86, 1-165.Oxford: OUP
(2008) The chapter on 'Language' in The Year's Work in English Studies 87, 1-172.Oxford: OUP 
(2009) The chapter on 'Language' in The Year's Work in English Studies 88, 1-146.Oxford: OUP
(2010) The chapter on 'Language' in The Year's Work in English Studies 89, 1-168.Oxford: OUP
(2011). English Language (chapter 1), The Year's Work in English Studies 90,1-154. Oxford: OUP. 
(2012). English Language (chapter 1), The Year's Work in English Studies 91, 1-177. Oxford: OUP. 
(2013). English Language (chapter 1), The Year's Work in English Studies 92, 1-180. Oxford: OUP. 
(2014). English Language (chapter 1), The Year's Work in English Studies 93 1-174. Oxford: OUP. 
(2015). English Language (chapter 1), The Year's Work in English Studies 94, 1-126. Oxford: OUP. 
(2016). English Language (chapter 1), The Year's Work in English Studies,95, 1-199. Oxford: OUP. 
(2017). English Language (chapter 1), The Year's Work in English Studies 96, 1-186. Oxford: OUP.
(2018).English Language (chapter 1), The Year's Work in English Studies 97, 1- 186. Oxford: OUP.

(2019). English Language (chapter 1), The Year's Work in English Studies 98, 1-166 . Oxford: OUP.

With Hubert Cuyckens:(2020). English Language (chapter 1), The Year's Work in English Studies 99, 1-185 . Oxford: OUP.

C. Articles in Professional Journals and Contributions to Books 

(1979) 'A comparative study of philosophical terms in the Alfredian and Chaucerian Boethius', Neophilologus 63:622-639.

(1985) 'Gower's Tale of Florent and Chaucer's Wife of Bath's Tale: a stylistic comparison', English Studies 66:205-225.

(1987a) 'Some remarks on the analysis of perception verb complements: a reply', Kwartalnik Neofilologiczny 34:57-67.

(1987b) 'Old English witan, findan, gefrignan and the rise of the accusative and infinitive construction in English' in E. Kooper (ed.) Current Research in Dutch and Belgian Universities on Old English, Middle English and Historical Linguistics. Four Papers read at the 8th Philological Symposium held in Utrecht on November 7, 1986. Utrecht. 1-21.

(1988) 'The rise of the for NP to V construction: an explanation' in G. Nixon & J. Honey (eds.) An Historic Tongue, Studies in English Linguistics in Memory of Barbara Strang. London: Routledge. 67-88.

(1989) 'The origin and spread of the accusative and infinitive construction in English', Folia Linguistica Historica 8:143-217.

(1991) 'The rise of the passive infinitive in English' in D. Kastovsky (ed.) Historical English Syntax. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. 141-188. (earlier version in Amsterdam Papers in English 1,2 (1988): 54-107).

(1992) 'Syntactic change and borrowing: the case of the accusative and infinitive construction in English' in Dieter Stein & Marinel Gerritsen (eds) Internal and External Factors in Syntactic Change. Berlin: Mouton - de Gruyter.17-88.

(1992) 'Factors influencing the choice of infinitive marker in late Middle English', Dutch Working papers in English Language and Linguistics 25: 1-28.

(1994) 'The fortunes of the Latin-type accusative and infinitive construction in Dutch and English compared', in Toril Swan, Endre Mä∏rck, and Olaf Jansen Westvik (eds) Language Change and Language Structure. Old Germanic Languages in a Comparative Perspective. (Trends in Linguistics 73). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. 91-133.

(1994) 'The development of quasi-auxiliaries in English and changes in word order'. Neophilologus 78: 137- 164.

(1995) 'The distinction between to and bare infinitival complements in late Middle English', Diachronica 12: 1-30.

(1996) 'Verbal complementation in early Middle English: How do the infinitives fit in?', in D. Britton (ed.) English Historical Linguistics 1994, Amsterdam: John Benjamins. 247-270.

(1996) 'The status of to in Old English to-infinitives: A reply to Kageyama', Lingua 99: 107-133.

(1997) 'The grammaticalisation of infinitival to in English compared with German and Dutch', in R. Hickey and Stanislaw Puppel (eds) Language History and Linguistic Modelling, A Festschrift for Jacek Fisiak on his 60th Birthday. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. 265-280.

(1997) 'Infinitive marking in Late Middle English: Transitivity and changes in the English system of case' in Jacek Fisiak (ed.) Studies in Middle English Linguistics. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. 109-134.

(1997) 'Iconicity in language and literature: Language innovation and language change', Neuphilologische Mitteilungen 98: 63-87.

(1997) 'On the status of grammaticalisation and the diachronic dimension in explanation', Transactions of the Philological Society 95: 149-187.

(1998) 'On negative raising in the history of English', in I. Tieken, G. Tottie, W. van der Wurff (eds), Negation in the History of English. Mouton de Gruyter. 55-100.

(1999) 'On the role played by iconicity in grammaticalisation processes', in M. Nänny and O. Fischer (eds), Form Miming Meaning: Iconicity in Language and Literature. Benjamins. 345-374.

(1999) 'Changes in infinitival constructions in English', in Anglistentag 1998, Erfurt F.W. Neumann and S. Schfürlting (eds), 7-27.

(2000) 'The position of the adjective in Old English', In R. Bermœdez-Otero, D. Denison, R.M. Hogg and C.B. McCully (eds) Generative Theory and Corpus Studies. A Dialogue from 10th ICEHL. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, 153-182.

(2000) 'Grammaticalisation: unidirectional, non-reversable? The case of to before the infinitive in English', in O. Fischer, A. Rosenbach and D. Stein (eds), Pathways of Change. Grammaticalization in English. Amsterdam: Benjamins. 149-169. (appeared earlier in Viewz 7.1).

(2001) 'The position of the adjective in (Old) English from an iconic perspective', in O. Fischer and Max Nänny (eds) The Motivated Sign. Iconicity in Language and Literature 2. Amsterdam: Benjamins. 249-276.

(2002) 'Teaching the history of the English language. Its position in the university curriculum and its relation to linguistic theory', in D. Stanulewicz ed., PASE Papers in Language Studies: Proceedings of the Ninth Annual Conference of the Polish Association for the Study of English. Gdansk, 26-28 April 2000. Gdansk: Wydawnictwo, Uniwersytetu Gdaä±skiego, 31-46.

(2003) 'The modal puzzle: Putting the pieces together', in David Hart and Maria Lima (eds), Modality in Late Middle English and Early Modern English: Semantic Shifts and Pragmatic Interpretations. Napoli: Cuen.

(2003) 'Principles of grammaticalization and linguistic reality', in Günter Rohdenburg and Britta Mondorf (eds) Determinants of Grammatical Variation in English. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, 445-478.

(2003) 'Grammar change, language change and the historical linguist', in Masa-chijo Amano (ed.) Creation and Practical Use of Language Texts. (Proceedings of the Second International Conference Studies for the Integrated Text Science. Nagoya: Nagoya University, School of Letters. pp. 31-47.

(2003) 'The development of the modals in English: Radical versus gradual changes', in David Hart (ed.) English Modality in Context. [Linguistic Insights. Studies in Language and Communication 11]. Bern: Peter Lang, 17-32.

(2003) 'Grammaticalisation and iconicity: Two interacting processes', in Philippe Monneret (ed.) Cahiers de linguistique analogique1: 99-134.

(2004) 'Grammar change versus language change: Is there a difference?', in Christian Kay, Simon Horobin and Jeremy Smith (eds) New Perspectives on English Historical Linguistics. Vol. I: Syntax and Morphology. Amsterdam: Benjamins, pp. 31-63.

(2004) 'Developments in the category adjective from Old to Middle English', SIMELL 19: 1-35.

(2004) 'What counts as evidence in historical linguistics'. Studies in Language 28: 710-740.

(2004) 'Author's response'. Studies in Language 28: 745-747.

(2004) ' Langue', 'parole' and the historical linguist', in Alicia Rodriguez äÅlvarez and Francisco Alonso Almeida (eds), Voices on the Past. Studies in Old and Middle English Language and Literature. Coruä±a: Netbiblo, pp. 101-138.

(2004) 'Evidence for iconicity in language'.  Logos and Language. Journal of General Linguistics and Language Theory 5.i: 1-19.

(2006 )'Grammaticalization and iconicity: Two interacting processes'. In Herbert Grabes and Wolfgang Viereck (eds), Bamberger Beiträge zur Englischen Sprachwissenschaft 51, Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, pp. 17-42

(2006) 'On the position of adjectives in Middle English, English Language and Linguistics 10.2: 253-288. 

(2007)  ‘On analogy as the motivation for grammaticalization”, Studies in Language 32: 336-381

(2007) ‘The development of English parentheticals: A case of grammaticalization?’. In Ute Smit, Stefan Dollinger, Julia Hüttner, Gunther Kaltenbäck and Ursula Lutzky (eds), Tracing English through Time. Explorations in Language Variation. Wien: Braumfürller, pp. 99-114.

(2008) 'History of English Syntax', in Haruko Momma and Michael Matto (eds), A Companion to the History of the English Language. Oxford: Blackwell, 57-68.

(2010) 'An iconic analogical approach to grammaticalization', in Jac Conradie et al. (eds) Signergy. Amsterdam: Benjamins, 279-298.

(2010) 'On problem areas in grammaticalization: Lehmann's parameters and the issue of scope', in An van Linden et al. (eds) Formal Evidence in Grammaticalization Research. Amsterdam: Benjamins, 17-42.

(2010) 'An analogical approach to grammaticalization', in Katerina Stathi, Elke Gehweiler, and Ekkehard König (eds), Grammaticalization. Current Views and Issues. Amsterdam : Benjamins, 181-219.

(2011) 'Grammaticalization as analogically driven change?',  in Heiko Narrog and Bernd Heine (eds), The Oxford Handbook of Grammaticalization (Oxford Handbooks in Linguistics). Oxford: Oxford University Press, 31-42. 

(2011). 'Cognitive iconic grounding of reduplication in language', in Pascal Michelucci, Olga Fischer and Christina Ljungberg (Eds.), Semblance and Signification (Iconicity in Language and Literature, 10). Amsterdam: Benjamins. 55-81.

(2012). 'The status of the postponed 'and-adjective' construction in Old English: Attributive or predicative?', in David Denison, Ricardo Bermúdez-Otero, Chris McCully, Emma Moore (Eds), Analysing Older English (Studies in English Language).Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 251-284.

(2013). 'The role of contact in English syntactic change in the Old and Middle English periods', in Marianne Hundt and Daniel Schreier (Eds.), English as a Contact Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 18-40. 

(2013) 'Iconic principle', in Bernd Kortmann (ed.),Wörterbücher zur Sprach- und Kommunikationswissenschaft (WSK) Online; volume 'Theories and Methods in Linguistics'. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.

(2013) 'An inquiry into unidirectionality as a foundational element of grammaticalization. On the role played by analogy and the synchronic grammar system in processes of language change', in Lobke Ghesquiere, Hendrik DeSmet and Freek van de Velde (eds), special issue of Studies in Language 37, 515-533.

(2014) Chapter 25 ‘Iconicity’, in Peter Stockwell and Sara Whiteley (eds), The Cambridge Handbook of Stylistics. Cambridge University Press, pp. 377-392.

(2015). 'An inquiry into unidirectionality as a foundational element of grammaticalization: On the role played by analogy and the synchronic grammar system in processes of language change', in On Multiple Source Constructions in Language Change. [Benjamins Current Topics; no. 79] De Smet, H., Ghesquière, L. & Van de Velde, F. (eds.). Amsterdam/Philadelphia,  43-61.

(2015) . ‘The influence of the grammatical system and analogy in processes of language change: The case of the auxiliation of have to once again’. In: F. Toupin and B. Lowrey (eds), Studies in Linguistic Variation and Change: from Old to Middle English. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars, 120-50.

(2016). 'Morphosyntactic change’, in Merja Kytö and Päivi Paht(eds), The Cambridge Handbook of English Historical Linguistics. Cambridge University Press, 237-255.

 

(2017) with Hendrik De Smet. 'The role of analogy in language change: Supporting constructions', in The Changing English Language: Psycholinguistic Perspectives.[Studies in English Language] Hundt, M., Mollin, S. & Pfenninger, S. E. (eds.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 240-268.

(2018). 'Analogy: Its role in language learning, categorization, and in models of language change such as grammaticalization and constructionalization', in Sylvie Hancil, Tine Breban and Jose Vicente Lozano (eds) Grammaticalization in the 2010s. Amsterdam: Benjamins.

(2019) with Hella Olbertz. 'The role played by analogy in processes of language change: The case of English HAVE-to compared to Spanish TENER-que' . In Nuria Yáñez-Bouza et al (eds.), Categories, Constructions and Change in English Syntax (Studies in English Language Series), Cambridge University Press.

(2019). 'A sentence is a half-formed thing: Observations on iconic and indexical (morpho)syntactic blanks inspired by Eimear McBride's debut novel', in Wolf, W., Balestrini, N. & Bernhart, W. (eds.), Meaningful Absence across Arts and Media. The significance of missing signifiers.  Leiden/Boston: Brill [etc.], Vol. 11. pp. 59-86 (Studies in intermediality).

(2019). 'Analogy in linguistics', in Mark Aronoff (chief editor), Oxford Bibliographies in Linguistics [online]. Oxford University Press.

(2021).  Chapter 15 'What role do iconicity and analogy play in grammaticalization?' In Richard D. Janda,  Brian D. Joseph, and Barbara S. Vance  (eds), The Handbook of Historical Linguistics Vol. II, 314-342.  Oxford: Wiley Blackwell.

With Frederike van der Leek  (1983) 'The demise of the Old English impersonal construction'. Journal of Linguistics 19:337-368.

(1987) 'A "Case" for the Old English impersonal' in W. Koopman et al. (eds.) Explanation and Linguistic Change. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. 79-120.

With Max Nänny (2001) 'Introduction: Iconicity and nature', EJES 5: 32005) 'Iconicity: Literary texts', in Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics, 2nd Ed, edited by Keith Brown. Elsevier: Oxford, Vol. 5, 462-72.

With Anette Rosenbach,(2000) 'Introduction', in O.Fischer, A. Rosenbach and D. Stein (eds), Pathways of Change. Grammaticalization in English. Amsterdam: Benjamins. 1-37.With Wolfgang Müller, (2003) 'Introduction. From signing back to signs', in Wolfgang Müller and Olga Fischer (eds) From Sign to Signing. Iconicity in Language and Literature 3. Amsterdam: Benjamins, 1-20.

With Muriel Norde and Harry Perridon, (2004) 'Introduction: In search of grammaticalization', in Olga Fischer, Muriel Norde and Harry Perridon (eds) Up and Down the Cline -The Nature of Grammaticalization. Amsterdam: Benjamins, 1-16.

With Costantino Maeder and William Herlofsky, (2005) 'Introduction. Iconicity Inside-out', in Costantino Maeder, Olga Fischer and William Herlofsky (eds), Outside-In - Inside-Out. Iconicity in Language and Literature 4. Amsterdam: Benjamins.

With Imogen Cohen, (2015) 'Iconicity in translation: Two passages from a novel by Tobias Hill'. In M.K. Hiraga, W.J. Herlofsky, K. Shinohara & K. Akita (eds), Iconicity: East Meets West (Iconicity in language and literature, 14) (pp. 163-184). Amsterdam: Benjamins.

 

D. Further articles

(1996) 'Erosie en iconisering in de taal', Athenæum Illustre 8: 19-22.

(2000) 'De taille van Vrouwe Filologia: langue of parole'. Amsterdam: Vossius Press.

(2004) 'De historische taalkunde', in Gij letterdames en gij letterheren. Nieuwe mogelijkheden voor taalkundig en letterkundig onderzoek in Nederland. Verkenningen Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen. Amsterdam 2004, pp. 130-153.

(2017) 'Zo de ouden zongen, ....? Taalkundige deuntjes herondekt'. Afscheidsrede bij het emeritaat. Linguistics in Amsterdam 10, i. [http://www.linguisticsinamsterdam.nl/home?issue=101] 

E. Reviews and Review Articles

(1994) Review of David Denison, English Historical Syntax: Verbal Constructions. London: Longman, Journal of Linguistics 30: 277-281.

(1995) 'New directions in English historical grammar', Review article of History of Englishes. New Methods and Interpretations in Historical Linguistics, ed. by Matti Rissanen et al. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, Neophilologus 79: 163-182.

(1996) 'Review of Roger Lass Old English. A Historical Linguistic Companion. Studies in Language 20: 686- 692.

(2000) Review of Jacek Fisiak and Marcin Krygier, Advances in English Historical Linguistics. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, English Studies 81: 145-47.

(2000) Review of H.F. Nielsen, The Continental Background of English and its Insular Development until 1154. Odense U.P. , EJES4.2: 195-198.

(2002) Review of: Javier Rivas, Ergativity and Transitive Gradients in the Accusative and Infinitive Construction. A Cross-Linguistic Typological Approach. Coleccion LUCUS LINGUA, Anexos de Moenia, Revista Lucense de Lingüística y Literatura 7. Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, 2000, Linguistics 40: 1251-1256.

(2003) Review article of: Bernd Heine and Tania Kuteva, World Lexicon of Grammaticalization. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2002. Functions of Language 10: 140-147.

(2003) Review article of : Jan Terje Faarlund (ed.) Grammatical Relations in Change (Studies in Language Companion Series 56). Amsterdam: Benjamins 2001. Journal of Indo-European Studies, 31: 491-505.

(2004) Review of Michiko Ogura, Verbs of Motion in Medieval English. Woodbridge: Boydell and Brewer, 2002. Speculum 79: 815-817.

(2004) Review of Tania Kuteva, Auxiliation: An Enquiry into the Nature of Grammaticalization. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001. Language 80: 320-324.

(2004) 'In defense of Fónagy' (on Ivan Fónagy, Languages within Language: An Evolutive Approach, Amsterdam: Benjamins 2001), Language 80: 201-202.

(2008) 'Is there life beyond generative syntax?' (Review article of The Blackwell Companion to Syntax. Vols I-V, edited by Martin Everaert and Henk van Riemsdijk), Beiträge zur Geschichte der deutschen Sprache und Literatur 130: 199-23.

(2009) Review of The Handbook of Historical Linguistics. Ed. by B. D. Joseph and R.D. Janda. Oxford: Blackwell, 2003, Language 85: 206-211.

(2011) Review of More Support for more-Support: The role of processing constraints on the choice between synthetic and analytic comparative forms, by Britta Mondorf. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 2009, Language 87: 416-420. 

With Frederike van der Leek,

(1981) 'Optional vs radical re-analysis: mechanisms of syntactic change' (review article of Lightfoot, Principles of Diachronic Syntax, Cambridge: Cambridge U.P. [1979]), Lingua 55:301-350.

(1985) Review of A. von Seefranz-Montag, Syntaktische Funktionen und Wortstellungsveranderung: die Entwicklung 'subjektloser' Konstruktionen in einigen Sprachen. Munich: Wilhelm Fink, 198. Journal of Linguistics 21:497-503.

With Wim van der Wurff,

(1995) the chapters 'Early and Late Syntax', and 'Morphology' in part 1, 'Language', in The Year's Work in English Studies 73 (1992) edited by E. Treharne. Oxford: Blackwells. 24-66.
(1996) The chapters 'Early and Late Syntax', and 'Morphology' in part 1, 'Language', in The Year's Work in English Studies 74 (1993) edited by E. Treharne en P.J. Kitson. Oxford: Blackwells.19-64.
(1997) The chapters 'Early and Late Syntax', and 'Morphology' in part 1, 'Language', in The Year's Work in English Studies 75 (1994) edited by P.J. Kitson. Oxford: Blackwells. 31-74.
(1998) The chapters 'Early and Late Syntax', and 'Morphology' in part 1, 'Language', in The Year's Work in English Studies 76 (1995)edited by P.J. Kitson. Oxford: Blackwells, 33-78.
(1999) The chapters 'Early and Late Syntax', and 'Morphology' in part 1, 'Language', in The Year's Work in English Studies 77. (1996)edited by P.J. Kitson. Oxford: Blackwells, 18-59.
(2000) The chapters 'Early and Late Syntax', and 'Morphology' in part 1, 'Language', in The Year's Work in English Studies 78. (1996)edited by P.J. Kitson. Oxford: Blackwells, 7-67.


II. Editor and Advisor

1996 - Chief editor of the section 'Middle English Language' in the ABES Project (Annotated Bibliography for English Studies).

1996 - Member of the editorial board of English Language and Linguistics (Cambridge U.P.).

1997 - Member of the editorial board of Links and Letters, University of Barcelona

1997 - Member of the Advisory Editorial Board of Edinburgh Textbooks in the English Language. Edinburgh U.P.

1998 - Member of the Advisory Editorial Board of Studies in English Medieval Language and Literature, Peter Lang, Frankfurt.

1998 - Editor of the Language section of The Year's Work in English Studies. Blackwells.

2000 - Member of the editorial board of Journal of English Studies. University of Rioja.

2004 - 2013 - Member of the editorial board of Studies in Language (Benjamins)

2004 - Member of the editorial board of the E-journal Constructions (Düsseldorf)

2006 - co-editor of the Benjamins Series Iconicity in Language and Literature

2012 - member of the editorial board of Anglia

1998 - 2020 Editor of the Language section of The Year's Work in English Studies. Blackwells.

2018 – 2023, Editor in chief of Folia Linguistica

III. Membership

1977 - Early English Text Society
1978 - 1985 International Courtly Literature Society
1980 - 1985 Stichting Literatuurwetenschap, Werkgemeenschap van de Letterkunde van de Middeleeuwen
1981 - Stichting Taalwetenschap, Werkgemeenschap Syntaxis en Semantiek (as of 1991 - Werkgemeenschappen Taaldata en Taaltheorie
1981 - 1997 Researchgroup 'Generatieve Grammatica', since 1992 the researchschool 'Holland Institute of Generative Linguistics' (HIL)
1984 - 2006 Algemene Vereniging voor Taalwetenschap
1990 - 2003 Netherlands Society for English Studies, part of the European Society for the Study of English (ESSE)
1991 - Societas Linguistica Europaea
1996 - 2005 Modern Language Association (MLA)
1997 - 2016 The Philological Society (London)
1997 - 2000 Research school IFOTT, 'themagroep taalgeschiedenis en taalvariatie'.
2000 - Research School ACLC (Amsterdam Center for Language and Communication)
2004 - 2016 Fellow of the English Association
2006 - 2008 Linguistic Society of America
2011 - 2013  President (Elect, Past), Societas Linguistica Europeae
2010 - 2018 President ISLE (Elect, Past) International Society for the Linguistics of English)

IV. Lectures

A. Papers and Talks, Guest Lectures

'The demise of the Old English impersonal construction', 2nd International Conference on English Historical Linguistics (with F.C. van der Leek). Odense, Denmark, April 1981.

'Sir Gawain and the Green Knight: de grenzen van de ridderroman', Duits Seminarium, Universiteit van Amsterdam, 1982.

'The rise of the for NP to V construction', 3rd International Conference on English Historical Linguistics, Sheffield, March 1983.

'A "case" for the Old English impersonal', workshop 'Explanation and Linguistic Change', (with F.C. van der Leek). Amsterdam, April 1985 .

'On the origin and spread of the accusative and infinitive construction in the history of English', Department of Language, University of York, December 1985.

'The analysis of infinitival complements in Old English', University of Sheffield, February 1986.

'Old English witan, gefrignan and findan and the development of the accusative and infinitive in English', University of Edinburgh, March 1986 (and Utrecht, November '86).

'Factors conditioning infinitive marking in late Middle English', 6th International Conference on English Historical Linguistics, University of Helsinki, May 1990.

'The linguistic distinction between the to-infinitive and the bare infinitive in Chaucer's writings', University of Manchester, 15 October 1991.

'Infinitive marking in early Middle English', 8th International Conference on English Historical Linguistics, University of Edinburgh, 19-23 September 1994.

'The grammaticalisation of infinitival to in English compared to German and Dutch', ESSE conference in Glasgow, September 1995.

'How to interpret infinitival to at various stages in the history of English', ManchesterWorkshop English historical syntax, University of Manchester, 11-12 May 1996.

'On the role played by iconicity in grammaticalisation processes", Symposium 'Iconicity in Language and Literature', University of Zürich, Switzerland. 20-22 March 1997.

'Grammaticalisation: unidirectional, non-reversable? The case of to before the infinitive in English', XIII International Conference on Historical Linguistics, University of Dfürsseldorf, 10-17 August 1997.

'Adjective Order or the Position of Adjectives in Old English', 10th International Conference on English Historical Linguistics, University of Manchester, England, August 1998.

'Theory and Teaching the History of the English Language' and 'Grammaticalisation: Unidirectional, Non-Reversable? The Case of to before the Infinitive in English', papers given at the MLA conference in San Francisco, December 1998.

'The position of the adjective in Old English from an iconic perspective', paper given at the Second International Symposium on Iconicity, University of Amsterdam, March 1999.

'Grammaticalisation and iconicity: Two interacting processes', talk given to the symposium 'New Reflections on Grammaticalization', held at the University of Potsdam, June 1999.

'Tijd en Taal', talk given at the 'nationale wetenschapsdag', Amsterdam, October 1999.

'De taille van Vrouwe Filologia: langue of parole', inaugural lecture, Universiteit van Amsterdam, 6 April 2000.

'The nature of the category adjective in Old English: Its form, function and position', talk given to the 11th ICEHL, Santiago de Compostela, Spain, September 2000.

'Grammaticalization and iconicity': two interacting processes', paper given at the IAUPE conference, Bamberg, August 2001.

'Principles of grammaticalization and linguistic reality', paper given at the 25th AEDEAN conference, Granada, December 2001.

'Vorm is betekenis. Het gebruik van 'concrete' taalvormen in natuurlijk en literair taalgebruik', paper given to the Dutch Society of English Teachers, Zeist, The Netherlands, February 14, 2003.

'Notes on developments in the category adjective from Old to Middle English', paper given at 2nd Holland-York Symposium on the History of English Syntax, University of Leiden, 12-13 April 2003; and also at the 13th International Conference on English Historical Linguistics, Vienna, August 2004.

'Evidence for iconicity in language', paper given at the fifth International Symposium on Iconicity in Language and Literature, University of Krakow, March 2005.

'On the gradual loss of the postposed adjective position in Middle English', paper given at the 5th ICOME conference, Naples, August 2005.

'On some problem areas in grammaticalization: Lehmann's parameters and the issue of scope', paper given to the research group linguistics at the University of Vienna, June 29, 2006 (invited speaker).

'Lehmann's scope decrease hypothesis and subjectification', paper given at the 15th International Conference on English Historical Linguistics, University of Bergamo, August 2006

‘An iconic, analogical approach to grammaticalization’, paper given at the Sixth International Symposium on Iconicity in Language and Literature, University of Johannesburg, April 3, 2007.

‘Lehmann’s scope decrease hypothesis and subjectification: On the development of parentheticals in English’, paper given at the äñsterreichische Linguisten-Tagung, University of Innsbruck, October 27, 2007.

'The status of the postposed adjective construction in Old English: attributive or predicative?', paper given at the 15^thInternational Conference on English Historical Linguistics, Munich 26 August 2008.

'The status of the postposed adjective construction in Old English: attributive or predicative?', paper given at the workshop on “Variation and Change”, organized by the DP group at the University of Amsterdam, Januari 29, 2009.

 

'Iconicity in translation: two passages from a novel by Tobias Hill(with Imogen Cohen). Paper given at the ninth International Conference on Iconicity in Language and Literature, Rikkyo University, Tokyo, May 3, 2013.

 

B. Papers Given by Invitation

'On the emergence of the passive infinitive in English', workshop 'English Historical Syntax', Vienna, September 1988 (invited by Prof. Dieter Kastovsky)

'Syntactic change and borrowing: the case of the accusative and infinitive in English', workshop 'Internal and external factors in syntactic change', 9th International Conference on Historical Linguistics, Rutgers, New Jersey, August 1989 (invited by Prof. Dieter Stein and Dr. Marinel Gerritsen)

'The rise of the accusative and infinitive construction in two West-Germanic languages compared', workshop on Germanic languages, University of Tromsø, Norway, May 1991 (invited by Dr. Toril Swan).

'On the status of grammaticalisation and the diachronic dimension in explanation'. 15. "Jahrestagung" van de 'Deutschen Gesellschaft für Sprachwissenschaft', workshop on "Erklärbarkeit von Sprachwandel", University of Jena, March 1993 (invited by Dr. U. Demske-Neumann).

'Changes in infinitival constructions in the history of English', University of Uppsala and University of Gothenburg (Sweden), April 1999 (invited by Prof. Mats Rydèn en Prof. Aimo Seppänen).

'Grammaticalisation: a diachronic process?', University van Gothenburg, April 1993 (see above). The same paper was given to the 'vakgroep ATW' , "Vrijdagclub", University of Amsterdam, 2 December, 1994)

'The distinction between to and bare infinitival complements in late Middle English, the expression of transitivity and changes in the English system of case', University of Gothenburg, April 1993 (see above)

'Infinitive marking in late Middle English: transitivity and changes in the system of case', Adam Mickiewicz University (Poznan, Polen), April 13-16 1994, "International Conference on the Middle English Language" (invited by Prof. Jasek Fisiak).

'Changes in infinitival constructions in the history of English', 'On the status of grammaticalisation and the diachronic dimension in explanation', 'Infinitive marking in early Middle English' (three papers),University of Budapest, March1995 (invited by Prof. Veronica Kniesza).

'Iconicity in Language and Literature', University of Nottingham, March 1996 (invited by Prof. Kathryn Sutherland).

'On the status of grammaticalisation and the diachronic dimension in explanation' (revised version), London, May 1996 (invited by the Philological Society).

'The development of have to into a modal auxiliary: A case of grammaticalisation?', University of Zürich, 22 November 1996 (invited by Prof. Andreas Fischer).

'The relation between semantic bleaching and the process of grammaticalisation', University of Konstanz, 25 November 1996 (invited by Prof. Frans Plank).

'Grammaticalization: the case of the infinitival marker to and the semi-modal have to, paper given at the University of Leuven , May 2000 (invited by Prof.Dr. Hubert Cuyken).

'Grammaticalization and iconicity', talk given at the international symposium on 'Determinants of Grammatical Variation in English', June 23-24 2000, University of Paderborn (invited by Prof. Gunter Rohdenburg).

'Notes on developments in the category adjective from Old to Middle English', paper given to the 25th 'Jahrestagung' of the 'Deutsche Gesellschaft für Sprachwissenschaft', workshop on 'The (non)distinction of the syntax and semantics of adjectives and adverbs', University of Munich, Feb. 2003 (invited by Dr. D. Haumann and Dr. Britta Mondorf). This paper was also presented at the University of Kyoto (Japan) on June 2, 2003 at the invitation of Prof. Yoko Iyeiri.

'Evidence for iconicity in linguistic change', paper given at the conference 'Le mot comme signe et comme image: Lieux et enjeux de l'iconicité linguistique', University of Dijon (France), April 29-30, 2003 (invitated by Dr. Philippe Monneret).

'Coming to terms with grammaticalization', paper given at the Groningen Colloquium, October 2005 (at the invitation of Dr. Muriel Norde

‘I think and I guess: on the development of parentheticals in English’, paper given at the Kolloquium zum 60. Geburtstag von Andreas Fischer, Universuity of Zurich, March 23, 2007.

‘The status of the postposed adjective construction in Old English’, paper given at the workshop on 'The history and structure of the English Noun Phrase', University of Sheffield, April 5, 2008

'Cognitive implications of reduplication in spoken and signed languages', Seventh International symposium on ‘Iconicity in Language and Literature, Victoria University Toronto, 11 June 2009.

'Reduplication and iconicity reconsidered', talk given at the University of Helsinki, March 2010.

'Grammaticalization, analogy and the system of grammar', paper given at the Workshop ‘Variation and Change in the History of English', Queen's College Cambridge, May 10, 2010.

'The role of contact in English syntactic change', paper given at ECoLa (Symposium on English language as a contact language), University of Zurich, June 10, 2010.

'Against unidirectionality in grammaticalization: the influence of the grammatical system and analogy in processes of language change', paper given at the 43rd Annual SLE Meeting , Vilnius University, September 3, 2010. 

'How Syntax Shapes Meaning: Syntactic devices and syntactic violations in literary language', paper given at the Workshop on Dialogues between Form and Meaning, Tübingen, Germany, September 2, 2011.

 

'To what extent does morpho-phonological reduplication follow the iconicity principle?'.  44th Meeting of the Societas Languistica Europeae, Workshop on "Doubling", Logrono, Spain, September 8, 2011.

 

 'Against unidirectionality in grammaticalization: The influence of the grammatical system and analogy in processes of language change', Workshop "Autour de la grammaticalisation", Université Lille 3, December 2012

 

A two-day workshop ‘On the role played by analogy and the synchronic language system in grammaticalization processes’, II Workshop de Gramaticalização,  Rio de Janeiro, Unversidade Federal Fluminense, May 7-8, 2014.

‘The role of analogy in language change: Supporting constructions’, with Hendrik De Smet. Zurich, workshop as part of ISLE on 'Language Change: Psycholinguistic perspectives, 24 August 2014.

 

‘The status of analogy in categorization and grammar building: Past and present’. Manchester, England, Workshop on 'The future (and past) of categories in English and beyond, April 17, 2015.

 

‘A Sentence is a Half-Formed Thing: Observations on (morpho)syntactic blanks inspired by Eimear McBride’s novel’. University of Graz, Lecture series: Significant absence: Gaps in signifiers across media, October 20, 2015.

'Analogy: its role in language, categorization and change', Sorbonne, Paris, October 19, 2017.

'The development of English have to compared to Spanish tener que', Sorbonne, Paris, October 20, 2017, University of Duesseldorf, January 2018.

 

The role of contact in English syntactic change and the problems involved in recognizing borrowings”, invited paper given at SLIN University of Innsbruck, April 2018.

 

C. Plenary Lectures

'On the history of negative raising in English', plenary lecture given at the '9th International Conference on English Historical Linguistics', Poznan (Polen) August 1996 (invited by Prof. Jacek Fisiak).

'Changes in infinitival constructions in the history of English', plenary lecture given at the 'Anglistentag', Erfurt, September 1998 (invited by Prof. Christian Mair, University of Freiburg).

'Teaching the history of the English Language. Its position in the university curriculum and its relation to linguistic theory', plenary lecture given at the Polish ESSE conference. Gdansk 2000.

'Grammar change versus language change: Is there a difference?', plenary lecture given at the 12th International Conference on English Historical Linguistics, University of Glasgow, 21-26 August 2002.

''Langue', 'parole' and the historical linguist', plenary lecture given at the 14th International SELIM Conference, University of Gran Canaria, 3-5 October 2002.

'Language change, grammar change and the historical linguist', plenary lecture given at the International Conference on Linguistics, University of Nagoya (Japan), June 7, 2003.

'Coming to terms with grammaticalization', plenary lecture given at the Fitigra Conference, University of Leuven, February 2005

 

‘The role of analogy in morphosyntactic change’ plenary lecture given at the Deutsche Gemeinschaft für Sprachwissenschaft, AG 8: ‘The role of variation in language evolution’, University of Siegen, March 1, 2007

‘An analogical approach to grammaticalization’, plenary lecture given at the workshop ‘What's new in grammaticalization?’ as part of the project 'Grammatikalisierung' of the special research center 'Kulturen des Performativen', Freie Universität Berlin, May 11, 2007.

'The importance of analogy in language acquisition and change', plenary lecture given at at ISLE 2008, University of Freiburg, October 10, 2008.

'The role of contact in English morpho-syntactic change: Factors influencing borrowing', Plenary lecture Medieval Language Meeting, Poznan November 19, 2011.

'The swing of the pendulum: the status of analogy in linguistic theory from the Junggrammatiker up to the present ', SLE presidential address, Stockholm, August 29, 2012.

'The status of analogy in linguistic theory (synchronic and diachonic) from the Neogrammarians up to the present. 'Plenary lecture at Universidade Federal Fluminense/Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, for the II Workshop de Gramaticalização, May 7, 2014.

‘Analogy and Categorization: Synchrony, Diachrony, and Explanation’. Berlijn, Freie Universität, Symposium on "Categories in Grammar: Criteria and limitations", July 4, 2015.

'What role do iconicity and analogy play in grammaticalization', University of Rouen, 2nd International Conference on Grammaticalization: Theory and Data', April 25-26, 2016.

'Presidential address: Analogy: Its role in language learning, categorization and in models of language change', ISLE 4, University of Poznan, September 18, 2016.

 V. Organisation: Conferences, Workshops, Projects, etc.

April 1985: Co-organiser of the 'Fourth International Conference on English Historical Linguistics' (with Willem Koopman, Frederike van der Leek and Roger Eaton) at the University of Amsterdam.

April 1985: Co-organiser of a workshop entitled 'Explanation and Linguistic Change', (with Willem Koopman, Frederike van der Leek and Roger Eaton) at the University of Amsterdam.

1994 - 1999: Together with Prof. Dr. A. van Kemenade (Nijmegen) involved in a project on language change financed by NWO within the area of language change. The executor of this project (entitled: 'Infinitival Complementation in Old and Middle English') is Mevr. Drs. B. Los.

March 1997: Co-organiser (with Prof. Dr. M. Nänny of the University of Zürich) of an interdisciplinary symposium, entitled 'Iconicity in Language and Literature', at the university of Zürich, Switzerland.

September 1997: Co-organiser (with Dr. N. Ritt of the University of Vienna) of a workshop entitled 'How relevant is Historical Linguistics in the university curriculum', at the ESSE conference in Debrecen, Hungary.

March 1999: Co-organiser of the second International Symposium on 'Iconicity in Language and Literature', University of Amsterdam.

January 2001: Co-organiser of an NWO workshop on Preverbs, University of Nijmegen

March 2001: Co-organiser of the third International Symposium on 'Iconicity in Language and Literature' (with Prof. Wolfgang Mfürller) at the University of Jena, Germany.

April 2002: Co-organiser of the second international conference on 'New Reflections on Grammaticalization' (with Dr. Muriel Norde and Dr. Harry Perridon), at the university of Amsterdam.

March 2003, Co-organisor of the fourth 'International Symposium on Iconicity in Language and Literature' (with Prof. Costantino Maeder) at the University of Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium.

September 2004, Convener of a seminar on 'Iconicity: Challenging the Saussurian Dogma of the pervasive arbitrariness of language', ESSE 7, Zaragoza.

March 2005, Co-organisor of the fifth 'International Symposium on Iconicity in Language and Literature' (with Prof. Elzbieta Tabakowska) at the University of Cracow, Poland. 

April 2007, Co-organiser of the sixth 'International Symposium on Iconicity in Language and Literature' (with Jac Conradie, Marthinus Beukes, and Christina Ljungberg), at the University of Johannesburg, South Africa.

June 2009, Co-organiser of the seventh 'International Symposium on Iconicity in Language and Literature' (with Paul Bouissac, Pascal Michelucci, and Christina Ljungberg), at the University of Toronto, Canada.

June 2011, Co-organiser of the eighth 'International Symposium on Iconicity in Language and Literature' (with Lars Elleström and Christina Ljungberg), at the University of Växjö, Sweden.

May 2013, Co-organiser of the ninth 'International Symposium on Iconicity in Language and Literature' (with Masako Hiraga and Christina Ljungberg), at Rikkyo University, Tokyo, Japan.

May 2013, Translation Workshop on two passages from a novel by Tobias Hill (with Imogen Cohen), Rikkyo University, Tokyo, Japan.

April 2015, Co-organiser of the tenth 'International Symposium on Iconicity in Language and Literature' (with Matthias Bauer, Angelika Zirker and Christina Ljungberg),University of Tubingen.

April 2017, Co-organiser of the eleventh 'International Symposium on Iconicity in Language and Literature' (with Pamela Perniss and Christina Ljungberg),University of Brighton.

May 2019,  Co-organiser of the twelfth 'International Symposium on Iconicity in Language and Literature' (with Jordan Zlatev, Sara Lenninger, and Christina Ljungberg, Lund University Sweden.

ay-June 2022, Co-organiser of the thirteenth 'International Symposium on Iconicity in Language and Literature' (with Philippe Monneret and Christina Ljungberg), Sorbonne University Paris.

Last update August 2023