NUS Syntax/Semantics Lab

The Syntax/Semantics Lab at the National University of Singapore investigates linguistic theory through the study of languages of Singapore and Southeast Asia.

Michael Yoshitaka Erlewine (mitcho), PI

Zheng Shen

Anne Nguyen, postdoc

Alexander Smith, postdoc

Carly Sommerlot, postdoc

Alumni

• Kenyon Branan, postdoc 2018–2021; now at Leibniz ZAS, Berlin
• Tingchun (TC) Chen, postdoc 2018–2019; now at National Tsing Hua University
• Henrison Hsieh, postdoc 2021–2022; now at Hong Kong Polytechnic University
• Ted Levin, postdoc 2017–2018; now at Apple
• Cara Leong, collaborator and advisee; now PhD student at NYU
• JJ Lim, RA 2020; now PhD student at UC San Diego
• Keely New, RA 2019–2021; now PhD student at MIT
• Wenkai Tay, RA 2019–2020; now PhD student at University College London
• Jianrong (JR) Yu, postdoc 2021; now at KU Leuven

Friends and collaborators

• Bob Beddor, NUS Philosophy
• Nick Huang, NUS Linguistics
• Aine Ito, NUS Linguistics
• Hadas Kotek, collaborator, Apple/MIT
• Hiroki Nomoto, collaborator, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies
• Yosuke Sato, at NUS until 2018; now at Tsuda University
• Shiao Wei Tham, NUS Chinese Language
• Coppe van Urk, collaborator

👉🏼 Students

👉🏼 Reading group

Events

• 2022: The second Singapore Summer Meeting
• 2021: The eighth TripleA meeting for semantic fieldworkers
• 2021: Austronesian Formal Linguistics Association (AFLA) 28 with our friends at McGill
• 2020: Austronesian Formal Linguistics Association (AFLA) 27
• 2019: The first Singapore Summer Meeting
• 2019: Workshop on Approaches to Wh-Intervention
• 2018: Current Issues in Comparative Syntax
• 2017: Workshop on Quirks of Subject Extraction
• 2017: GLOW in Asia XI

Support

Our work is supported by NUS and the Singapore Ministry of Education through the following grants, among others:

• “History and syntax of the languages of Borneo” (MOE Tier 2, 2022–2025)
• “The Architecture of Grammar and Discourse” (NUS Presidential Young Professorship research funds)
• “Subjecthood in Southeast Asia: Description and theory” (MOE Tier 2, 2018–2021)
• “Current Issues in Comparative Minimalist Syntax through Asian Perspectives” (MOE Tier 1, 2017–2018)
• “Theory and variation in extraction marking and subject extraction asymmetries” (MOE Tier 1, 2017–2018)