What's learned in the cradle ...

Degrammaticalization

For the past two years I have been working on a monograph entitled Degrammaticalization, which is to be published by Oxford University Press. As the title suggests, this work will be concerned with one of the more controversial topics within grammaticalization studies. Using data from a number of different languages, I will construct a typology of degrammaticalization changes, and discuss their differences and similarities. By explicitly contrasting grammaticalization and degrammaticalization, I also hope to enhance our understanding of what grammaticalization is. See OUP's website for more information.

Other research interests

• Diachronic morphology and morphological demarcations (inflection vs derivation; inflection vs cliticization; derivation vs compounding etc.)

• Usage-based explanations of language change

• Various topics in Old, Middle and Early Modern Swedish syntax (group genitives, the use of obsolescent inflections as stylistic markers)

• The grammaticalization of prepositions

• Morpheme-based vs. construction-based approaches to degrammaticalization (with Graeme Trousdale, University of Edinburgh)

Inaugural lecture

I held my inaugural lecture at September 15th, 2009. Click here for the full text of my lecture, and here for the powerpoint I used (both in Dutch).