About the Cluster
Crosslinguistic Investigations in Syntax-Phonology (CrISP) is a collaborative research group with members from the Linguistics Department at UC Santa Cruz and the Linguistics Department at Stanford University. The group investigates interactions between word and sentence structure (morphosyntax) on the one hand, and the sound structure (phonology) of words and sentences on the other. Within the field of linguistics, there are two approaches to thinking about the interaction between morphosyntax and phonology which are fundamentally different but not mutually exclusive. In one, morphosyntactic and phonological forms are built step by step, according to a set of ordered rules. In another, an optimal form (or a word, a sentence) is chosen according to language-specific constraints on those forms. CrISP’s focus is on exploring empirical evidence that can help shed light on the interaction of morphosyntax and phonology, specifically by illuminating the kinds of theoretical devices–rules, constraints, or some combination of both–that are involved at that interface. In service of these goals, CrISP members are committed to detailed, careful investigation of the structure of specific languages through linguistic fieldwork and experimental psycholinguistics. The languages investigated so far include Arabic, Bulgarian, Irish, K’ichee’, Russian, Tz’utujil, and Uzbek.
Affiliated Faculty
Sandra Chung (Linguistics, UCSC)
Vera Gribanova (Linguistics, Stanford)
Matt Wagers (Linguistics, UCSC)
Events
May 16, 2013: Ad Neeleman: “Person: Inventory and Realization”