Riva del Garda, Italy, July 2005

 

 

 

 

 

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My research interests generally involve Semitic languages and what we can learn from them about broader issues in linguistic theory, primarily syntax and semantics. I also aim to examine such issues from an acquisitional perspective, and more generally to explore the applicability of formal linguistic analysis to acquisition and processing.

Specific topics I've worked on and/or am currently working on:

  • Syntax: intervention effects, wh-in-situ, conspiracy-driven string-vacuous movement (a.k.a. "concealed" movement), resumption, the syntax-information structure interface

  • Semantics: expletive negation in Modern Hebrew

  • Experimental work on the acquisition of expletive negation

  • The Yiddish component in Modern Hebrew (syntax and semantics)

Manuscripts & Handouts

  • The Absence of Intervention Effects in Amharic: Evidence for a Non-Structural Approach. Versions of this paper have been presented at PLC 33, NACAL 37, WCCFL 27, and the Ben Gurion University Linguistics Dept. Colloquium.

          [Paper]

          [Handout]

  • Beyond Regularization: The Role of Native Learners in Shaping Modern Hebrew Relative Clauses. Paper presented at Generative Approaches to Language Acquisition in North America (GALANA) 3, UConn, Sept. 4-6, 2008.

[Paper]

[PPT]

  • Expletive Negation in Modern Hebrew: Neither Expletive nor Negation. Versions of this paper have been presented at IATL 23 and CLS 43.

    • [Paper] (long version)

    [Paper] (short, CLS version)

  • (with Tatjana Scheffler) Until and Expletive Negation in Modern Hebrew. Paper presented at the Swarthmore Workshop on Negation and Polarity, April 15-14, 2006.

          [Handout]

Talks/Conference Presentations

  • (with Catherine Lai) Sorting out the Implications of Questions. Paper to be presented at CONSOLE XVIII, Barcelona, Dec. 17-19, 2009.

  • The Information Structural Basis of Focus Intervention Effects. Talk given at the Hebrew University Linguistics Dept. Colloquium, May 5, 2009.

  • On the Lack of Intervention Effects in Amharic. Presented at the 33rd Penn Linguistics Colloquium (PLC), March 27-29, 2009.

  • On the Lack of Intervention Effects in Amharic. Presented at the 37th North American Conference on Afroasiatic Linguistics (NACAL), March 13-15, 2009.

  • Beyond Regularization: The Role of Native Learners in Shaping Modern Hebrew Relative Clauses. Presented at Generative Approaches to Language Acquisition in North America (GALANA) 3, UConn, Sept. 4-6, 2008.

  • What Amharic Tells Us about Intervention Effects. Talk given at the Ben Gurion University Linguistics Dept. Colloquium, June 24, 2008.

  • Intervention Effects: Why Amharic Patterns Differently. Presented at the 27th Annual West Coast Conference on Formal Linguistics (WCCFL), UCLA, May 16-18, 2008.

  • Expletive Negation in Modern Hebrew: Neither Expletive nor Negation. Presented at the 23rd Annual Meeting of the Israel Association for Theoretical Linguistics (IATL), June 18-19, 2007.

  • The (In)visibility of Movement: Clitic-Left-Dislocation in Amharic. Talk given at the Tel Aviv University Linguistics Dept. Colloquium, May 31, 2007.

  • The Crosslinguistic Realization of -Ever: Evidence from Modern Hebrew. Presented at the 43rd Annual Meeting of the Chicago Linguistic Society (CLS), May 3-5, 2007.

  • (with Tatjana Scheffler) Until and Expletive Negation in Modern Hebrew. Presented at the Swarthmore Workshop on Negation and Polarity, April 14-15, 2006.

  • Universal Concessive Conditionals in Modern Hebrew: A Case of Not So Expletive Negation. Presented at the 9th International Pragmatics Conference, July 10-15, 2005.

TAing
    Franklin & Marshall College
  • Fall 2009: Hebrew 101 & 201
    • University of Pennsylvania
  • Spring 2008: Introduction to Linguistics (LING 001)
  • Fall 2007: Tutorial in Linguistics (LING 300)

    •                  Introduction to Cognitive Science (COGS 001)

  • Spring 2007: Introduction to Linguistics (LING 001)
  • Fall 2006: Introduction to Cognitive Science (COGS 001)

Any comments, suggestions or general input regarding the issues I'm interested in and have worked on are welcome.

For those of you who missed it on the main page, my address is:

eilamavi {at} babel {dot} ling {dot} upenn {dot} edu

(the caveat regarding sweet-talking African businessmen still applies).