Research Interests

• Syntax and semantics of negation and negative concord
• Syntax, semantics and pragmatics of polarity phenomena
• Syntax, semantics, typology and acquisition of functional categories
• Syntax and semantics of doubling phenomena
• Syntax and semantics of speech acts
• Feature architecture
• Language change and grammaticalisation
• Diachronic syntax
• Fundaments of grammatical theory

Research Program: Doubling, Redundancy, Syntactic Categories and the Architecture of Grammar

The existence of doubling, i.e. the multiple morphosyntactic manifestation of a single semantic property/operation in natural language, has formed a long-standing problem for compositionality. In order to account for doubling two main approaches have been proposed: (i) absorption mechanisms, where the two morphosyntactic markersare both semanticallyinterpretable and somehow merge into one operator, thus yielding no iterative readings; (ii) marking mechanisms where not every morphosyntactic marker of a semantic property/operator is semantically interpretable. I argue that this second approach is worth exploring, since it is able to yield proper readings without formulating additional interpretation mechanisms. The question however is why natural language should exhibit semantically vacuous material in the first place.

In my research I especially focus on the relation between redundancy and syntactic categories. I explore the hypothesis that the existence of(semantic) redundant material functions as a cue for the analysis of syntactic categories: no syntactic category F can exist in a particular language if the language does not exhibit any doubling effects with respect to F. Redundancy is then the cause of forming syntactic categories, i.e. categories that trigger syntactic operations.

Although an advantage of such a flexible approach of syntactic categories is that there need not be stipulated a UG-based set of syntactic categories (or formal features for that matter), the question rises why syntactic categories are needed in the first place.

On the basis of empirical (typological) research I will try to explain the existence of syntactic categories, redundancy and doubling effects as a result from mismatching phonological and semantic economy conditions. The research will include studies of negation, modality, tense & aspect, case and Wh . The study will not only investigate cross-linguistic variation, but also focus on grammaticalisation.

A final objective of this study is to account for parametric variation in terms of the variation space induced by the above-mentioned conflicting economy conditions. Consequently, such an approach enables us to consider parameters as not being innately present, but being derived as a by-product from language acquisition.

This research programhas been awarded an NWO veni grant. See below for the research proposal.

• VENI research proposal

Teaching areas

• Dutch linguistics
• General linguistics
• Dutch as a second language

PhD Thesis

• 1. - H.H. Zeijlstra. 2004. Sentential Negation and Negative Concord. PhD Dissertation University of Amsterdam. Utrecht: LOT Publications.

Monograph

• 2. - H.H. Zeijlstra. Expressing Negation. In preparation.

Edited journals

• 3. - P.J.E. Dekker&H.H. Zeijlstra (eds). Concord Phenomena and Uninterpretablity. Special Issue of the Journal of Semantics. Publication expected early 2010.

• 4. - D. Penka&H.H. Zeijlstra (eds). Negation and Polarity. Special Issue of Natural Language and Linguistic Theory. Publication expected early 2010.

Edited volumes

• 5. - H.H. Zeijlstra and J.P. Soehn. 2007. Proceedings of the Workshop on Negation and Polarity. Tuebingen: K.E. Universitaet Tuebingen.

• 6. - P.J.E. Dekker and H.H. Zeijlstra (eds).2006. 'Concord Phenomena and the Syntax-Semantics Interface'. Malaga: ESSLLI

Journal papers

• 7. - H.H. Zeijlstra. Negative Concord is Syntactic Agreement. Under review.

• 8. - H.H. Zeijlstra. On the Lexical Status of Negative Indefinites in Dutch and German. Under review.

• 9. - H.H. Zeijlstra. Not in the first place. Under review.

• 10. - H.H. Zeijlstra. Emphatic Multiple Negative Expressions in Dutch. Under review.

• 11. - H.H. Zeijlstra. Modal Concord is Syntactic Agreement. Under review.

• 12. - D.J. Goddard and H.H. Zeijlstra. On the origin of Berbice Dutch VO: a substratist explanation.

• 13. - Th. Biberauer and H.H. Zeijlstra. Afrikaans Negation: filling the typological gap.

• 14. - H.H. Zeijlstra. How simplicity shapes language.

• 15. - H.H. Zeijlstra. How parameters arise. Linguistics in Amsterdam 2: 1-22.

• 16. - H.H. Zeijlstra. 2009. Dislocation triggers uniniterpretability. To appear in Linguistic Analysis.

• 17. - H.H. Zeijlstra. Hard and soft conditions on the Faculty of Language: constituting parametric variation. Special volume on Optimality Theory and Minimalism. Linguistics in Potsdam 28: 9-38.

• 18. - H.H. Zeijlstra. 2007. Zero licensers. In Snippets 16: 21-22.

• 19. - H.H. Zeijlstra. 2007. Negation in Natural Language: On the Form and Meaning of Negative Elements. Language and Linguistics Compass 1: 498-518.

• 20. - H.H. Zeijlstra. 2006. The Ban on True Negative Imperatives. In Empirical Issues in Syntax and Semantics 6: 405-424.

• 21.- H.H. Zeijlstra. 2002. What the Dutch Jespersen Cycle may reveal about Negative Concord. In Linguistics in Potsdam 19: 183-206.

Reviewed book chapters

• 22. - H.H. Zeijlstra. 2009. Functional structure, formal features and parametric variation: consequences of conflicting interface conditions. In K. Grohmann (ed). Interfaces and Phases. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

• 23. - H.H. Zeijlstra. 2008. On the syntactic flexibility of formal features. I: Th. Biberauer (ed), The limits of syntactic variation. Amsterdam: Benjamins.

• 24. - H.H. Zeijlstra. 2007. Doubling: the driving force behind functional categories. In B. ten cate&H. Zeevat (eds). Logic, Language and Computation. Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence 4363. Hamburg: Springer Verlag. 260-280.

• 25. H.H. Zeijlstra. 2007. Emphatic Multiple Negative Expressions in Dutch. In ACLC Working Papers in Linguistics 2: 77-103.

• 26. - H.H. Zeijlstra. 2004. Two Ways of Expressing Negation. In S. Blaho, L. Vicente and M. de Vos (eds.). Proceedings of ConSOLE XII. 245-259.

Non-refereed papers

• 27. Th. Biberauer and H.H. Zeijlstra (in press). ‘Negation in Afrikaans: in search for the missing language.’ To appear in: Proceedings of NELS 39.

• 28. H.H. Zeijlstra (in press). ‘On French negation.’ To appear in: Proceedings of BLS 35.

• 29. - H.H. Zeijlstra 2008. Modal Concord. To appear in M. Gibson&T. Friedman (eds). Proceedings of SALT XVII. Ithaca: CLS Publications.

• 30. - H.H. Zeijlstra. 2006. Emphatic Multiple Negative Expressions in Dutch. In S. Barbiers, O. Koeneman&M. Lekakou (eds). Papers presented at Workshop on Syntactic Doubling, Amsterdam, March 2006.

• 31. - H.H. Zeijlstra. 2008. Formal Features as a Consequence of Doubling Effects. To appear in C. Davis, A. Deal&Y. Zabbal (eds). Proceedings of NELS 36. University of Massachusetts.

• 32. - H.H. Zeijlstra. 2006. How semantic dictates thesyntacticvocabulary. In: C. Ebert&C. Endriss (eds). Proceedings of Sinn und Bedeutung 10. Berlin: ZAS. 437-452.

• 33. - H.H. Zeijlstra. 2006. Don’t negate imperatives! Imperatives and the semantic of negative markers. In: C. Ebert&C. Endriss (eds). Proceedings of Sinn und Bedeutung 10'. Berlin: ZAS. 453-468

• 34. - H.H. Zeijlstra. 2005. What the Dutch Jespersen Cycle may reveal about Negative Concord. In M. Andronis, E. Debenport, A. Pycha&K. Yoshimura (eds). Proceedings of the Chicago Linguistics Society 38 (Vol. II). Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 143-158.

• 35. - H.H. Zeijlstra. 2004. Syntactic vs.Semantic Negation. In C.Meier&M. Weisgerber (eds). Proceedings of Sinn und Bedeutung 8. Arbeitspapier 117. Konstanz:Fachbereich Sprachwissenschaft Universitaet Konstanz. 333-348.

• 36. - H.H. Zeijlstra. 2002. A Three-Track Structureof Temporal and Aspectual Representation. In Proceedings of the Utrecht Perspectives on Aspect Conference.

Review

• 37. - H.H. Zeijlstra. 2003. Negation revisited. A review of Paul Rowlett's ‘Negation in French. In Glot 7: 1-4.

Bibliography

• 38. - J. van Cranenbroeck, A. Neuckemans, S. van der Kleij, M. van Koppen, G. de Vogelaer&H.H.Zeijlstra. 2002. A bibliography of Dutch dialect syntax.

Manuscript

• 39. - H.H. Zeijlstra. There is only one way to Agree. Paper presented at GLOW 33 in Wroclaw.

• 40. - D. Penka&H.H. Zeijlstra. 2005. Negative Indefinites in Dutch and German. Paper presented at 20thComparative Germanic Syntax Workshop, Tilburg.

• 41. - H.H. Zeijlstra. 1999. Temporal and aspectual representations. a proposal for a three track structure of temporal representations, based on tense and aspectuality in an algebraic context. MA Thesis Utrecht University.

Invited lectures

1. Ain't nothing wrong with tha t. Invited lecture. Harvard University. February 10, 2009.
2. A  formal approach to understanding redundancy . Semantics workshop, StanfordUniversity . February 19, 2009.
3. Pas de problème . Brown bag talk, New York University. March 6, 2009.
4. On French Negation . LF Reading group, MIT. March 18, 2009. 
5. Creole evidence against VO default status . Seminar on bilingualism, MIT April 2, 2009.
6. On the origin of Berbice Dutch VO . Linguistics Colloquium, MIT. April 17 , 2009 .
7. On the seemingly illogical behavior of negation in natural language . Linguistics Colloquium, Yale University . April 20, 2009.
8. Don't start with a negation . Invited lecture. Sarajevo Linguistics Gathering. October 5-6, 2008.
9. One way to agree . Colloquium Talk. Cambridge University. October 21, 2008.
10. Reverse Agree? Reverse Boskovic! Colloquium talk. Universität Wien. October 23, 2008. 
11. Funny negation in even more funny languages . Guest lecture. E.K. Universität Tübingen. December 4, 2008.
12. Underspecification or the flexible boundary between semantic and pragmatic modes of interpretation . Guest lecture. E.K. Universität Tübingen. December 5 , 2008 .
13. Grammaticalisation and Economy . Workshop on Language Change. University of Amsterdam. November 1, 2007.
14. Why uninterpretable features? Colloquium talk. Linguistics department, Cambridge University. June 7, 2007.
15. A matter of agreement. Linguistics department, University of Nantes. March 28, 2007.
16. What syntax tells us about negation and what negation tells us about syntax. Workshop on negation and Polarity. E.K. University of Tübingen. March 8, 2007.
17. The physics of natural language. Linguistics Colloquium. ACLC. University ofAmsterdam. February, 16, 2007.
18. Doubling, dislocation and initerpretability. Syntax Circle. Meertens Institute. January 31, 2007.
19. On the stimulus ofpovert. MUST talk. UiL OTS, Utrecht University. January 24, 2007.  
20. Syntactic change and economy. Seminar on Diachronic Syntax. University of Vienna. October 27, 2006.
21. The meaning of being meaningless. On uninterpretable material in syntax. Linguistics Colloquium. University of Vienna. October 25, 2006.
22. Not in the first place. Syntax in Autumn. Grammatical Models Group. University of Tilburg. October 20, 2006.
23. Doubling, redundancy andthe parametric space . Nijmegen Semantics Colloquium. Radboud University. October 3, 2006.
24. A theory of negation .Linguistics department. Stanford University. March 30, 2006.
25. UG: Universal Grammaticalisation . Linguistics department. University of Venice. June 13, 2006.
26. With Paul Dekker. Concord Phenomena at the Syntax-Semantics Interface . Workshop on Concord Phenomena at the Syntax-Semantics Interface. 18 th European Summerschool in Logic, Language and Information (ESSLLI). University of Malaga. August 7-11, 2006. 
27. Preverbal negation . University of Leipzig, July 14, 2006.
28. Negative Quantifiers in modal constructions . ACLC/ILLC Workshop on Modality. University of Amsterdam. February 18, 2005. 
29. Diachronic development of negation and Negative Concord in Dutch . GK Őkonomie und Komplexität in der Sprache. Humboldt University Berlin. March 1, 2005. 
30. Issues in the study of negation . Seminar on negation and polarity. University of Chicago. October 26, 2005. 
31. Negative imperatives and the distinction betweenStrict vs. Non-strict Negative Concord languages .ZAS Berlin, November 25, 2005. 
32. Why formal features are a result of L1 acquisition . Invited lecture at the Bilbao/Deusto Student Conference in Linguistics (BIDE'04). University of Deusto. Bilbao. July 10, 2004. 
33. Negative Markers, Negative Concord, Negative Imperatives . Seminar für Sprachwissenschaft. E.K. University of Tübingen. October 25, 2004. 
34. Negation . Wednesday Syntax Meeting. Universityof Leiden Centre for Linguistics (ULCL). November 10, 2004. 
35. On negativeimperatives . University of Frankfurt.December 10, 2004. 
36. Syntactic vs. semantic negation . Linguistics Colloquium. SUNY Stony Brook. March 28, 2003. 
37. Syntactic vs. semantic negation . LANYU Forum. NYU. April 18, 2003. 
38. Requirements for licensing n-words .DIP Colloquium. ILLC. University of Amsterdam. November 14, 2003. 
39. A Compositional Account for Negative Concord .Seminar für Sprachwissenschaft. E.K. University of Tübingen. November 26, 2003. 
40. Negative Concord and the Availability of Negative Projections. Trans Seminar on Syntax and Semantics. UiL OTS. Utrecht University. December 17, 2003. 
41. Variation in negation in the Dutch dialects . Dialect Syntax Workshop. Universität Freiburg. November 30, 2001. 
42. Van dialect naar universele grammatica . Openingsdag ACLC. University of Amsterdam. September 30, 2000.

Conference and workshop presentations

1. With Theresa Biberauer. Negative Concord In Afrikaans: In Search Of The Missing Language .  Berkely Linguistics Society 35. February 14-16, 2009.
2. On French negation . Berkely Linguistics Society 35. February 14-16, 2009..
3. With Denice Goddard. On the origin of VO in Berbice Dutch Creole . 35 th Incontro di Grammatica Generativa. University of Siena. February 26-28, 2009.
   
4. With Denice Goddard. A non-universalist approach to Berbice Dutch. Language Change: grammaticalization and beyond. University of Ulster at Jordanstown. April 24-25, 2009.
   
5. With Theresa Biberauer. Microvariation in Afrikaans negation: filling a typological gap . Comparative Germanic Syntax Workshop 20. HU Brussels. May 28 -29, 2009.  
6. With Denice Goddard. On the origin of VO in Berbice Dutch Creole . Diachronic Generative Syntax 11. University of Campinas, Brazil. July 22-24, 2009.  
7. With Theresa Biberauer. Negative changes: a parametric account of the diachrony of Afrikaans negation. Diachronic Generative Syntax 11. University of Campinas, Brazil. July 22-24, 2009.
   
8. With Denice Goddard. How  Berbice Dutch became VO . The XIXth International Conference on Historical Linguistics. Radboud University Nijmegen. August 10-15, 2009.
9. Hard and soft conditions in grammar. Interface theories: the filtering of the output of the generator. Descriptive and Explanatory Adequacy in Linguistics (DEAL) II. Leiden University. February 23 , 2008 .
10. Parameters are epiphenomena of grammatical architecture. Foundations of Language Comparison: Human Universals as Constraintson Language Diversity. DGfS 2008 AG 2. Bamberg University, February 28 , 2008 .
11. With Suzanne Aalberse. The semantic (un)markedness of pronominal features. Workshop on Markedness and Underspecification in the Morphology and Semantics of Agreement (MUMSA). Harvard University. March 1 , 2008 .
12. Negation and grammaticalisation: thecaseof French pas. 18th International Congress of Linguists (CIL 18). Seoul, Korea. July, 2008 .
13. On the semantics and pragmatics of pronominal features . 8th International Congress of Linguists (CIL 18). Seoul, Korea. July.
    
14. Negation in Afrikaans: filling the typological gap . NELS 39. Cornell University. Ithaca, NY, November 7-9, 2008
15. Pas de problème . Going Romance 2008. Groningen University, December 11-12.
16. Parameters are epiphenomena of grammatical architecture. Workshop on syntactic parameters. 18th International Congress of Linguists (CIL 18). Seoul, Korea. July. Modal auxiliaries are empty. SALT 17. University of Connecticut. May 11-13, 2007.
17. The meaning of multiple modals. Journées Sémantique & Modélisation 2007. CNRS & Université Paris 8 Vincennes/St-Denis. March 29-30, 2007.
18. How revising the Stronges Minimalist Thesis constitutes parametric variation. Bioloinguistics Investigations. Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. February 23, 2007.
19. Emphatic multiple negation in substandard Dutch . Poster presentation. International conference on linguistic evidence. E.K. University of Tübingen. February 2-4, 2006.
20. With Doris Penka. Typological implications as linguistic evidence . Poster presentation. International conferenceon linguistic evidence. E.K. University of Tübingen. February 2-4, 2006.
21. Language Change: Shifting Complexity. Szklarska Poreba Workshop on semantics, pragmatics and experimental philosophy. Szklarska Poreba, Poland. March 3-5, 2006.
22. Negative Doubling in Dutch. Workshop on syntactic doubling in European dialects. Meertens Institute, Amsterdam. March 16-18, 2006.
23. Negative Doublingin Non-NegativeConcord languages. 21 st Comparative Germanic Syntax Workshop. University of California at Santa Cruz. April 1-2, 2006.
24. The syntactic status of adverbials. Workshop on adjuncts/modifiers. GLOW 29. Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. April 5-8, 2006.
25. Functional structureand parametric variation: consequences of conflicting interface conditions. Workshopon InterPhases. University of Cyprus, Nikosia. May 16-18, 2006.
26. Diachronic change and constant complexity. 9th Diachronic Generative Syntax Conference (DIGS 9).University of Trieste. June 8-10, 2006.
27. Negative Concord as syntactic agreement . Electronic Poster. Workshop 'Polarity from Different Perspectives.' NYU. March 11-13, 2005.
28. With Doris Penka. Negative Indefinites in Germanic . 20th Comparative Germanic Syntax Workshop. University of Tilburg. June 10-11, 2005.
29. Deriving parameters: on the syntactic flexibility of functional categories . Workshop 'The structure of parametric variation.' University of Newcastle. September 5-7, 2005.
30. With Arnim von Stechow. Why functional categories are syntactically flexible. Sixth International Tbilisi Symposium on Language Logic and Computation. Batumi. September 12-16, 2005.
31. The Ban on True Negative Imperatives . Colloque de Syntax et de Sémantique à Paris. Université de Paris XII. September 29 - October 1, 2005.
32. With Arnim von Stechow. How Semantics Dictates the Syntactic Vocabulary . Sinn & Bedeutung 10. ZAS / HumboldtUniversität zu Berlin. October 13-15, 2005.
33. Don't negate imperatives! Or: imperatives and the syntax of negative markers . Sinn & Bedeutung10. ZAS / Humboldt Universität zu Berlin. October 13-15, 2005.
34. Syntactically flexible functional categories . Poster presentation. NELS 36. University of Massachusetts at Amherst. October 28-30, 2005.
35. A compositional analysis of Negative Concord . Szklarska Poreba Workshop on Experimental Philosophy and Pragmasemantics. Szklarska Poreba, Poland. February 27-29,2004.
36. Negative Projections and Negative Concord . Georgetown University Round Table. Comparative and Cross-Linguistic Research in Syntax, Semanticsand Computational Linguistics. Georgetown University. Washington D.C. March 26-29, 2004.
37. Negative Heads, Projections and Concord . WestCoast Conference on Formal Linguistics. University of California at Davis. April 23-25, 2004.
38. Syntactic features and functional projections . TABU-Day. University of Groningen. June 4, 2004.
39. Issues in the study of negation and their typological correlations . First Syntax AiO Meeting (SAM). University of Leiden Centre for Linguistics (ULCL). November 19-20, 2004.
40. Negative Concord as a consequence of the syntax of scope . Joint Conference of the Forum for Germanic Languages Studies and the Germanic Linguistics Society. King's College. London. January 3-4, 2003.
41. On the diachronic development of negation . Conference on Comparative Diachronic Syntax. UCLC. University of Leiden. August 29-30, 2003.
42. Two ways of expressing negation. Sinn und Bedeutung 8. University of Frankfurt. September 29 - October 1, 2003.
43. Negative Projections and Negative Concord . Console XII. University of Patras. December 11-13, 2003.
44. What the Dutch Jespersen Cycle may reveal about Negative Concord. Workshop on Language Change and Generative Grammar. Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. February 8, 2002.
45. Whatthe Dutch Jespersen Cycle mayreveal about Negative Concord. Chicago Linguistic Society 38 (CLS): Special sessionon Negation and Polarity Items. University of Chicago. April 25-27,2002.
46. Negative Heads and Negative Concord. Comparative Germanic Syntax Workshop 17 (CGSW). University of Iceland. Reykjavik. August 9-10, 2002.
47. Syntax and semantics of Logical Negation and Negative Concord. SIN-Dag (Semantics in the Netherlands). University of Leiden. June 16, 2001.
48. Syntax and semantics of Logical Negation and Negative Concord. LOT-NWCL Student Conference. Utrecht University. July 14, 2001.
49. A three track structureof temporal and aspectual representations. Poster presentation. Conferenceon Perspectives on Aspect. Utrecht University. December 12-14, 2001.

Popularizinglectures

1. Unknown knowns . Lecture presented at the literary center Perdu.
   
2. Het (on)logische gedrag van ontkenningen in de geschiedenis van het Nederlands . Lecture presented at the Amsterdamse Philologische Kring. November 12, 2005.
3. Waarom niets soms iets betekent . Lecture presented prior to my PhD defence. University of Amsterdam. December 15.

First Semester 2010-2011

• Geschiedenis van het Nederlands ( BA programma NederlandseTaal- en Cultuur).
• Hot Topics in Lingusitics (MA program Cognitive Science.
• Dutch Linguistics I: Doubling & Redundancy, (MA programma Nederlandse taal en cultuur en MA program Linguistics).

Second Semester 2009-2010

• Agreement in negation, tense & modality (Guest lectures Cambridge University)

First Semester 2009-2010

• Geschiedenis van het Nederlands ( BA programma NederlandseTaal- en Cultuur).
• Hot Topics in Lingusitics (MA program Cognitive Science.
• Dutch Linguistics I: Doubling & Redundancy, (MA programma Nederlandse taal en cultuur en MA program Linguistics).

Second Semester 2008-2009

• More Advanced Syntax (PhD Program MIT)
• Introduction to semantics (EGG Summerschool).

First Semester 2008-2009

• Geschiedenis van het Nederlands ( BA programma Nederlandse Taal- en Cultuur).
• Hot Topics in Lingusitics (MA program Cognitive Science.
• Grammatical functions (MA programma Nederlandse taal en cultuur en MA program Linguistics).

Second Semester 2007-2008

• Wetenschapsfilosofie voor studenten Nederlandse taalkunde (BA Programma Nederlandse taal en cultuur).
• Inleiding Nederlandse taalkunde (BA Programma Nederlandse taal encultuur). 

First Semester 2007-2008

• Geschiedenis van het Nederlands ( BA programma Nederlandse Taal- en Cultuur)
• Inleiding Nederlandse Taalkunde (BA programma Algemene Taalwetenschap enBA programma Taal en Communicatie)
• Foundations of Lingusitics (MA program Cognitive Science)
• Grammatical functions (MA programma Nederlandse taal en cultuur en MA program Linguistics)

Second Semester 2006-2007

• Grammatical functions (MA programma Nederlandse taal en cultuur en MA program Linguistics).
• Wetenschapsfilosofie voor studenten Nederlandse taalkunde (BA Programma Nederlandse taal en cultuur).
• Inleiding Nederlandse taalkunde (BA Programma Nederlandse taal en cultuur).
  
• Introduction to semantics (EGG Summerschool).
• The meaning of being meaningless: the how and why of uninterpretable features (EGG Summerschool).

First Semester 2006-2007

• Geschiedenis van het Nederlands ( BA programma Nederlandse Taal- en Cultuur)
• Inleiding Nederlandse Taalkunde (BA programma Algemene Taalwetenschap en BAprogramma Taal en Communicatie)
• Lingusitics (MA program Cognitive Science)

No known ancillary activities