Current and recent research projects
I am associate professor of Linguistics.
My research focuses on morpho-syntactic functional typology, especially in the areas of word classes, argument structure, and dependent clauses.
In June 2019 I was granted an NWO Vidi grant for the project "Exceptions rule! Lexical restrictions on grammatical structure." This project started early 2020, in collaboration with Katherine Walker (PhD candidate), George Saad, and Clemens Mayer. In January 2021, Pegah Faghiri (postdoc) will join the team.
Between 2011 and 2016 I worked as a postdoctoral researcher on the project "Nouns and verbs, and what it means not to have them", with an NWO VENI-grant from the Dutch Organisation for Scientific Research. This project investigated the semantics and morpho-syntax of flexible word classes in Oceanic languages.
Between 2009 and 2011, I was a postdoctoral research associate with Prof. Anna Siewierska at Lancaster University, working on the project "Referential hierarchies in morpho-syntax" (RHIM), funded by the European Science Foundation.
My PhD research (2009) comprised a typological study of word class systems and dependent clause constructions in 50 languages around the world. Specifically, I investigated the relation between functional flexibility of word classes and dependent clause constructions in diverse languages. My thesis won the Joseph Greenberg Award for best typological dissertation between 2009 and 2013.
Publications
Forthcoming:
Olthof, M., E. van Lier, T. Claessen, S. Danielsen, K. Haude, N. Lehmann, M. Mous, E. Visser, E. Verhoeven, M. Vuillermet, A. Wolvengrey. Verb-based restrictions on noun incorporation across languages. Linguistic Typology.
2018
- Van Lier, E. & M. van Rijn. 2018. Alienability splits in action nominal constructions. STUF Typology and Universals 71(4): 1-49.
2017
- Van Lier, E. 2017b. Introduction: Lexical flexibility in Oceanic languages. Studies in Language 41(2): 241-254.
- Van Lier, E. 2017a.The typology of property words in Oceanic languages. Linguistics 55(6): 1237-1280.
2016
- Van Lier, E. 2016: Lexical flexibility in Oceanic languages. Linguistic Typology 20.2: 197-254.
- Van Bergen, G., E. van Lier. & P. de Swart. 2016+ Lexical preferences in Dutch ditransitives. To apper in: S. Grondelaers & R. van Hout (eds.), New ways of analyzing syntactic variation. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton
- Van Lier, E., J. Jansen & A. Witzlack-Makarevich. 2016. Referential and lexical factors in ditransitive alignment variation. Linguistics 54(3). 563–616.
2015
- Boye, K., E. van Lier & E. Theilgaard-Brink. 2015. Epistemic complementizers: a cross-linguistic survey. Language Sciences 51. 1–17.
2013
- Van Lier, E. & M. van Rijn 2013. Argument coding in nominalizations in Central-Eastern Oceanic languages. Lingue e Linguaggio 12.2: 279-305.
- Don, J. & E. van Lier. 2013. Categorization and derivation in flexible and differentiated languages. In J. Rijkhoff & E. van Lier (eds.), Flexible word classes: a typological study of underspecified parts-of-speech. Oxford University Press. pp. 56-88.
- Rijkhoff, J. & E. van Lier (eds.) 2013. Flexible word classes: a typological study of underspecified parts-of-speech. Oxford University Press.
- Siewierska, A. & E. van Lier 2013. Introduce: encoding of a non-prototypical three-participant event across Europe. In E. van Gelderen, M. Cennamo and J. Barðdal. (eds.), Argument structure in flux: the Naples/Capri papers. Amsterdam: Benjamins. pp. 169-200.Van Lier, E. & J. Rijkhoff 2013. Flexible word classes in linguistic typology and grammatical theory. In J. Rijkhoff & E. van Lier (eds.), Flexible word classes: a typological study of underspecified parts-of-speech. Oxford University Press. pp. 1-30.
- Van Lier, E. & J. Rijkhoff 2013. Flexible word classes in linguistic typology and grammatical theory.
In J. Rijkhoff & E. van Lier (eds.), Flexible word classes: a typological study of underspecified parts-of-speech. Oxford University Press. pp. 1-30.
2012
- Croft, W. & E. van Lier 2012. Language universals without universal categories. Theoretical Linguistics 38-1/2: 57-72.
- Russell, L., I. Genee, F. Zúñiga & E. van Lier 2012. Referential hierarchies in three-participant constructions in Blackfoot. In E. van Lier (ed.), Referential hierarchies in three-participant constructions . Linguistic Discovery 10/3: 55-79.
- Siewierska, A. & E. van Lier 2012. Ditransitive constructions with two human non-agentive arguments. Faits de Langues 39: 141-156 , edited by K. Haude & A. Montaut.
- Van Lier, E. 2012a. Reconstructing multifunctionality. Theoretical Linguistics 38-1/2: 119-136.
- Van Lier, E. 2012b: Referential effects on the expression of three-participant events across languages. An introduction in memory of Anna Siewierska. Linguistic Discovery 10/3: 1-16.
- Van Lier, E. 2012c (ed.): Referential hierarchies in three-participant constructions. Special issue of Linguistic Discovery (volume 10, issue 3).
2011
- Fischer, R. & E. van Lier 2011. Cofán subordinate clauses in a typology of subordination. In P. Muysken, K. Haude & R. van Gijn (eds.), Subordination in South American Indian Languages. Amsterdam: Benjamins. pp. 221 – 249.
2010
- Hengeveld, K. & E. van Lier. 2010. A functional map of Parts-of-Speech. In A. Malchukov, M. Cysouw & M. Haspelmath (eds.), Semantic Maps: Methods and Applications. Special issue of Linguistic Discovery 7/1.
2009
- Van Lier, E. 2009. Parts of Speech and Dependent Clauses. A typological study (LOT dissertation series no. 221). Utrecht: LOT.
2008
- Hengeveld, K. & E. van Lier 2008. Lexical and complex heads in Functional Discourse Grammar. Studies in Language 32/3 753 – 785.
2006
- Van Lier, E. 2006. Parts-of-speech systems and dependent clauses: a typological study. Folia Linguistica 40/3-4, 239 – 304.
- Verhagen, J., E. van Lier, S. Dikker, H. Cardoso, & J. Arends 2006. On the presence versus absence of morphological marking in four Romance-based creoles. In P. Bhatt & I. Plag (eds.), The structure of creole words: Segmental, syllabic and morphological aspects. (Linguistische Arbeiten 505) Tübingen: Niemeyer. pp. 223 – 241.
2005
- Dikker, S. & E. van Lier 2005. The interplay between syntactic and conceptual information: Agreement domains in FDG. In J. Lachlan Mackenzie & M. de los Ángeles Gómez-Gonzáles (eds.), Studies in Functional Discourse Grammar. (Linguistic Insights 26) Bern: Peter Lang. pp. 83 – 108.
- Van Lier, E. 2005. The explanatory power of typological hierarchies: developmental perspectives on non-verbal predication. In C. de Groot & K. Hengeveld (eds.), Morphosyntactic Expression in Functional Grammar. (Functional Grammar Series 27) New York/Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. pp. 249 – 280.
2004
- Van Lier, E. 2004. Straattaal. Neerlandica Extra Muros. Tijdschrift van de Internationale Vereniging voor Neerlandistiek. Februari 2004. Amsterdam: Rozenberg Publishers.