Syntax

One thing that, for several reasons, I don’t often mention is that most of my formal linguistic education has been in syntax, the study of grammar in human languages. I realised early on that syntactic theories aren’t gladly received in non-linguist circles (chiefly because they take too much explaining), but I remain deeply in love with the field, and so would like to offer some short pieces on syntax here.

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23/02/2022: *ABA – The Goodest Language Universal
Why can’t we say ‘good/better/goodest‘? Or ‘good/gooder/best‘? Why is it that no language seems able to do this?

23/02/2023: (Hopefully) Halfway to Doctorhood
I’m on the long route to the position of PhD in historical syntax and I’ve reached a point to catch my breath. Here’s my guide to how I got here.

26/11/2023: Is This [Is] An English Question?
Here’s a quick dive into the way languages form questions, and why English’s word order is globally a bit weird.

13/01/2024: New Article: Deriving the Old Irish Clause
Here’s my introduction to my first proper academic article, a deep dive into the way Old Irish speakers assembled their clauses.