Alice L. Davison

Associate Professor

Phone: 319-335-0211
Office: 566 EPB

Office Hours

MW 1:30-2:30, 4:45-5:15, and by appointment.

Fall 2008 Courses

Education

• AB (French), Bryn Mawr, 1962
• MA (Linguistics), University of Chicago, 1969
• Ph.D. (Linguistics), University of Chicago, 1973

Areas of Specialization

• syntax
• semantics
• pragmatics
• Hindi-Urdu and other South Asian languages

Current Research Projects

• Correlative clauses in Sanskrit and Hindi
• Long-distance agreement and non-finite clauses
• Conditions on case marking in Hindi
• Word order and clause structure in Indic languages
• The syntax of Hindi and linguistic parameters

Recent and forthcoming papers

To obtain a copy, please click on the link below (where relevant) or send an e-mail to the address above.

• In press "Hierarchical structure and linear order: correlative clauses in Hindi/Urdu." In C.P. Masica (ed.), Papers from the 2003 ICOSAL Meeting, Moscow State University. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, pp. 211-245.
• 2007 "Word order, parameters and the Extended COMP Projection." In J. Bayer, Tanmoy Bhattacharya and Hany Babu (eds.), Linguistic Theory and South Asian Languages. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, pp. 175-198.
• 2005 "Phrasal predicates: How N combines with V in Hindi/Urdu." In Tanmoy Bhattacharya (ed.) Yearbook of South Asian Languages and Linguistics. Berlin: Mouton DeGruyter, pp. 83-116.
• 2004a "Structural case, Lexical case and the verbal projection." In V. Dayal and A. Mahajan (eds), Clause Structure in South Asian Languages. Dordrecht: Kluwer, pp. 199-225.
• 2004b "Non-nominative subjects in Hindi/Urdu: VP structure and case parameters." In P. Bhaskararao and K.V. Subbarao (eds.), Non-nominative Subjects, Volume 1. Amsterdam: Benjamins, pp. 141-168.
• 2002 "Agreement features and projections of TENSE and ASPECT." In R. Singh (ed), Yearbook of South Asian Languages and Linguistics. Delhi: Sage Publications, 27-57.
• 2001a "Ergative case licensing, agreement and reflexive binding." In Anvita Abbi, R.S. Gupta and Ayesha Kidwai (eds), Linguistic Structure and Language Dynamics in South Asia. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass.
• 2001b "Long-distance anaphora in Hindi/Urdu." In P. Cole, G. Hermon and J. Huang (eds), Long Distance Anaphors. Irvine, CA: Academic Press, 47-82.
• 1999a "Ergativity, functional and formal issues." In Edith Moravcsik and Michael Noonan (eds.), Functionalism and Formalism in Linguistics, Vol. I (SLCS 41) Amsterdam: John Benjamins pp. 177-208.
• 1999b "Lexical anaphors in Hindi/Urdu," in Kashi Wali, K.V. Subbarao, B. Lust and J. Gair (eds.), Lexical Anaphors and Pronouns in Some South Asian Languages: a Principled Typology. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
• 1998 "Structural case, lexical case and complex predicates." South Asian Language Review VIII.

Recent conference papers:

• 2006 "Syntactic effects of correlative clause features in Sanskrit and Hindi/Urdu." 9th Diachronic Generative Syntax Conference, University of Trieste, June 8-10, 2006.
• 2005 "Syntactic adjunction: consequences for correlatives in Sanskrit and Hindi/Urdu." Generative Linguists in the Old World, GLOW in Asia V. Jawarharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, October 5-8, 2005. (Invited speaker)
• 2003. "Dependent Structural case and the role of functional projections." Paper presented at the 23rd South Asian Language Analysis Roundtable, University of Texas at Austin, October 2003.
• 2003. 'Hierarchical structure and linear order: Correlative clauses in Hind/Urdu.' Paper presented at the International Conference on South Asian Linguistics, Moscow State University, July 2003.
• 2003. "Argument licensing and interface conditions: The motivation for complex predicates in Hindi/Urdu." Presented at the Workshop on Argument Structure, Delhi University, January 2003; colloquia at University of Potsdam and University of Konstanz, July 2003. (Draft of April 2004.)
• 2002. "Perfective aspect as underspecified past tense." Paper presented at the South Asian Language Analysis Conference, June 2002.
• 2002. "The VP structure of two classes of experiencer predicates." Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Linguistic Society of America, January 2002.
• 2001. 'The VP structure and case checking properties of sentences with non-nominative subjects: Hindi/Urdu.' Paper presented at the Workshop on Non-nominative subjects, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, December 2001.
• 2001. 'Word order, parameters, and the Extended COMP projections.' Paper presented at the International Conference on South Asian Linguistics, University of Hyderabad, January 2000.

Work in progress:

• Long-distance agreement in Hindi/Urdu: non-finite clauses
• Dependent structural case and the role of functional projections
• Glossed sentences of a Hindi short story. Introduction, Sample Page I, Sample Page II, Sample Page III, Sample Page IV.
• Verbs in Hindi/Urdu: a database resource for linguistic research. See links for a Description of the Project and the Sample Database

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