Randy
J. LaPolla
Linguistics
La Trobe University
VIC 3086
Australia
Phone:
61 3 9479-2555 (O), Fax: 61 3 9479-1520
e-mail:
r.lapolla-at-latrobe.edu.au
Personal
|
General Interest
 |
CURRENT
POSITIONS
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of Contents
RESEARCH
INTERESTS
- Sino-Tibetan
linguistics
- Linguistic
typology
- The nature
of cognition and how it allows for communication and the developmment
of language
- Functional
approaches to understanding language structure and development
- Pragmatics
- Fieldwork on
endangered languages / anthropological
linguistics
(Asian languages on which I have done
fieldwork)
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of Contents
SERVICE
TO THE LINGUISTICS COMMUNITY
- Editor, Linguistics of
the Tibeto-Burman Area.
- Deputy Editor, Journal
of Sino-Tibetan Linguistics.
- President, Australian Linguistic Society (2007-2009).
- Vice President, International Association for Bilingual
Studies (since 2005).
- Cheung Kong Scholar (Chair Professor), Central University
of Nationalities, Beijing, China (2005-2008).
- Vice President, Australian Linguistics Society (2005-2007).
- Consulting Editor of Studies
in Language.
- Member, Editorial Board of Language
and Linguistics (Institute of
Linguistics, Academica Sinica)
- Member, International Advisory Board of Diachronica:
International Journal for Historical Linguistics.
- Member, Editorial Board, Macrolinguistics
(New York: The Learned Press).
- Member, Editorial Board of Nankai
Yuyanxue Kan (Linguistics
Journal of Nankai University)
- Organizer and Host, ALS2009, the 40th annual meeting of the
Australian Linguistic Society, Melbourne, July 9-11,
2009.
- Organizer and Host, Third Cross-Straits Workshop on Tibeto-Burman
Languages and Linguistics, City University of Hong Kong, April 17-18,
2004.
- Have
reviewed
submissions to Language, Studies
in Language, Linguistic
Typology, Cahiers de linguistique asie orientale, Language
and Linguistics, Linguistics
and Philosophy, Diachronica, Australian Journal of Linguistics, Lingua,
Bulletin of Chinese Linguistics,
and
other publications and presses.
I also have reviewed project proposals submitted to the Eurpoean
Research Council, the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific
Research, the Swiss National Science Foundation, the Endangered
Languages Documentation Programme
(SOAS), the Research
Grants
Council of HK, the National Science
Foundation
(USA), the Austrian Science Foundation (FWF), and the Australian
Research Council.
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of Contents
PUBLICATIONS
Books
- Dao Tianye qu—Yuyanxue Tianye Diaocha de Fangfa yu Shijian (To
the Field—The Method and Experience of Linguistic Fieldwork),
edited by Dai Qingxia, Luo Rendi (Randy J. LaPolla), and Wang Feng.
Beijing: Minzu Chubanshe, 2009.
- Language Variation: Papers on
variation
and change in the Sinosphere and in the Indosphere in honour of James
A.
Matisoff, edited by David Bradley, Randy LaPolla, Boyd Michailovsky
& Graham Thurgood. Pacific
Linguistics. Canberra: Australian
National
University, Dec. 2003 (PL
548, ISBN (Paperback) ISBN 0 85883 541).
- A
Grammar of Qiang, with Annotated Texts and Glossary (Mouton Grammar
Library), by
Randy J. LaPolla, with Chenglong Huang. Berlin: Mouton
de Gruyter, 445 + xvii pp., Dec. 2003 (ISBN 3-11-017829-X).
- The
Sino-Tibetan
Languages (Routledge Language Family Series 3),edited by Graham
Thurgood
& Randy J. LaPolla. London & New York: Routledge, 727 + xxii
pp., Jan. 2003
(ISBN
0-7007-1129-5).
- Rawang
Texts, with Grammatical Analysis and English Translation, by
Randy
J. LaPolla & Dory Poa. Berlin: LINCOM
EUROPA, December 2001 (ISBN 3 89586 783 7).
- The
Tibeto-Burman
Languages of Uttar Pradesh, Volume II of A Linguistic Approach
to
Zhangzhung and Related Languages in the Indian Himalayas, edited by
Randy J. LaPolla. Osaka: National
Museum of Ethnology, March, 2001 (ISSN 1340-6787).
- Syntax:
Structure,
Meaning, and Function (Cambridge Textbooks in Linguistics Series), by
Robert
D. Van Valin, Jr. & Randy J. LaPolla. Cambridge
University Press, 1997. (ISBN 0-521-49565-2 (cloth); 0-521-49915-1
(paper)). (Nominated for the Linguistic
Society of America Bloomfield Book Award; Reviewed by John Newman
in Linguistic
Typology 2.3 (1998), by S. Robinson in Language
75.3:621 (1999), by Laura and Radu Daniliuc on the LINGUIST
List 11.485, Tue Mar. 7, 2000, and by Cynthia Allen in Australian
Journal of Linguistics 22.2:272-277).
- Grammatical
Relations
in Chinese: Synchronic and Diachronic Considerations. PhD
dissertation,
University of California, Berkeley, 1990. (abstract)
- Bibliography
of the
Papers from the International Conferences on Sino-Tibetan Languages and
Linguistics, I-XXI, by Randy J. LaPolla & John B. Lowe. STEDT
Monograph Series, No. 1, 1989. (Second edition, including
conferences
XXII-XXV, published October 1994. Reviewed by Robert S. Bauer in
Mon-Khmer Studies 24(1995):115-16.)
- Linguistics
East
and West: Sino-Tibetan, Tai, and American Indian, recorded and
edited
by Ning-ping Chan & Randy J. LaPolla. Transcript of our interviews
with Prof. Fang-Kuei Li to record his oral history. Published by the Regional
Oral History Office, a department of the Bancroft
Library, University
of California, Berkeley, 1989.
Papers (click on link to download
paper)
- "Causes
and Effects of Substratum, Superstratum and Adstratum Influence, with
Reference to Tibeto-Burman languages". In Issues in Tibeto-Burman Historical
Linguistics (Senri Ethnological Studies 75), ed. by Yasuhiko
Nagano,
227–237. Osaka: National Museum of Ethnology, September, 2009.
- “Chinese
as a Topic-Comment (Not Topic-Prominent and Not SVO)
Language”. In Studies of Chinese
Linguistics: Functional Approaches, ed. by Janet Xing, 9-22.
Hong
Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2009.
- "Language Contact and Language Change in the History of the
Sino-Tibetan Languages". The
Harmony of civilizations and prosperity for all: diversity in the
development of human civilizations (Selected papers from the
Beijing Forum, Peking University and Great Hall of the People, Beijing,
2-4 November, 2007), ed. by the Academic Steering Committee of the
Beijing Forum, Peking University, 144-162. Beijing: Peking University
Press, October 2008.
- “Relative Clause
Structures in the Rawang Language”. Language and Linguistics
9.4:797-812 (special
issue on relative clause structures edited by Henry Y. Chang), 2008.
- “Nominalization
in Rawang”. Linguistics of the
Tibeto-Burman Area 31.2:45-66 (special issue
on nominalization in Tibeto-Burman edited by Alec Coupe), 2008.
- “The
Copula and Existential Verbs in Qiang” (Randy J. LaPolla
& Chenglong Huang). Bulletin of
Chinese Linguistics 1.2:233-248, Dec. 2007.
- “Yuyan leixingxue / gongneng
yuyanxuepai shiyexia de yuyanxue
tianye diaocha (A linguistic typology / functional linguistics view of
linguistic fieldwork)” Yuyanxue Luncong 36:42-56, 2007.
- “Cong yuyan, fangyan de
bijiao liaojie yuyan de lishi fazhan
(Understanding the historical development of a language by comparing it
with related languages and dialects)” (with Yang Jiangling). Journal of Sino-Tibetan Linguistics
1.1:120-126, 2007. (Also published in Dongfang
Yuyanxue 2 (2007):
11-18.)
- "Minority Languages of
China"(Dory Poa & Randy J. LaPolla). The
Vanishing Languages of the Pacific, ed.
by Osahito Miyaoka and Michael E. Krauss, 337-354. Oxford: Oxford
University
Press, 2007.
- “On Describing Word Order”
(Randy J. LaPolla & Dory Poa). Catching
Language: The Standing Challenge
of Grammar Writing, ed. by Felix Ameka, Alan Dench, &
Nicholas Evans, 269-295. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, 2006.
- “On Grammatical Relations as
Constraints on Referent
Identification”. Voice and
Grammatical Relations: Festschrift for
Masayoshi Shibatani (Typological Studies in Language), ed. by
Tasaku
Tsunoda and Taro Kageyama, 139-151. Amsterdam & Philadelphia: John
Benjamins Pub. Co., 2006.
- “Lishi
yuyanxue he yuyan leixingxue (Historical linguistics and typology) ”
. Journal of Peking
University
(Philosophy and Social Sciences) 43.2
(March 2006):27-30.
- “Copula Constructions
in Rawang.” Linguistic Studies
in Chinese and
Neighboring Languages: Festschrift in Honor of Professor Pang-hsin Ting
on His 70th Birthday, ed. by Dah-an Ho, H. Samuel Cheung, Wuyun
Pan, and Fuxiang Wu, 1059-1076. Taipei: Institute of Linguistics,
Academia Sinica, 2006.
- “Di’er yuyan xide dui diyi
yuyan de yingxiang (The influence of
second language learning on one’s first language)”. Papers from the 4th International
Conference on Bilingual Studies, ed. by Dai Qingxia and Jia
Yimin, 50-57. Guangzhou: Jinan University Press, December, 2005.
- “Sino-Tibetan
Languages ” . Encyclopedia of
Language and Linguistics, 2nd
Edition, ed. by Keith Brown, 393-397. London: Elsevier, 2005.
- “Li Fang-Kuei
(1902-1987) ” . Encyclopedia of
Language and Linguistics, 2nd
Edition, ed. by Keith Brown, 153-154. London: Elsevier, 2005.
- “Wang Li
(1900-1986)” . Encyclopedia of
Language and Linguistics, 2nd
Edition, ed. by Keith Brown, 514-515. London: Elsevier, 2005.
- “Chao, Yuen
Ren (1892-1982) ” . Encyclopedia
of Language and Linguistics, 2nd
Edition, ed. by Keith Brown, 295-296. London: Elsevier, 2005.
- “The
Inclusive-Exclusive
Distinction in Tibeto-Burman Languages”. Clusivity: Typology and Case
Studies on Inclusive/exclusive
Oppositions, ed. by Elena Filimonova, 289-310. Amsterdam &
Philadelphia: John Benjamins Pub. Co., 2005.
- "Typology and Complexity."
Language
Acquisition, Change and Emergence: Essays in evolutionary linguistics,
ed. by James W. Minett and William S-Y. Wang. Hong Kong: City
University of Hong Kong Press, 2005.
- "Jiaodian
jiegou de leixing ji qi
dui
Hanyu
cixu de yingxiang (The typology of focus structures and their effect on
word order in Chinese)." A Study on the Structure and Semantics
of
Focus,
edited by Xu Liejiong and Haihua Pan, 57-78. Beijing: Beijing Foreign
Studies
University Press, 2005.
- "Reflexive
and Middle Marking in Dulong/Rawang." Himalayan Linguistics 2
(on-line journal), December, 2004, (251kb)
http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/CIE/HimalayanLinguistics/Journal_2004/LaPolla_HLJ2.pdf.
- "Adjectives
in Qiang" (with Chenglong HUANG). Adjective classes: a
cross-linguistic
typology (Explorations in Linguistic Typology 1), ed. by R. M. W.
Dixon and Alexandra Y. Aikhenvald. Oxford: Oxford University Press,
2004.
- “On Nominal Relational Morphology in
Tibeto-Burman.” Studies on
Sino-Tibetan Languages: Papers in Honor of Professor Hwang-cherng Gong
on his Seventieth Birthday, ed. by Ying-jin Lin, Fang-min Hsu,
Chun-chih Lee, Jackson T.-S. Sun, Hsiu-fang Yang, and Dah-an Ho, 43-74.
Taipei: Institute of Linguistics, Academia Sinica, December 2004.
- "Why
languages
differ: Variation
in the conventionalization of constraints on inference". Language
Variation:
Papers on variation and change in the Sinosphere and in the Indosphere
in honour of James A. Matisoff, ed by David Bradley, Randy LaPolla,
Boyd Michailovsky & Graham Thurgood, 113-144. Pacific Linguistics.
Canberra:
Australian National University, 2003.
- "Texts in the
Qugu
Variety
of Northern Qiang" (with Dory Poa). Descriptive and Theoretical
Studies
in Minority Languages of East and Southeast Asia, ed. by Kitano
Hiroaki,
77-94. Endangered Languages of the Pacific Rim Project series.
Suita:
Faculty of Informatics, Osaka Gakuin University, 2003.
- "Evidentiality
in
Qiang." Studies
in Evidentiality (Typological Studies in Language), ed. by A. Y
Aikhenvald
& R.M.W. Dixon, 63-78. Amsterdam & Philadelphia: John Benjamins
Publishing Co., 2003.
- "English-Qiang
Glossary by
Semantic Field." Basic Materials on Minority Languages in East and
Southeast
Asia (Endangered Languages of the Pacific Rim series, A03-004), ed. by
Ikeda Takumi, 153-181. Suita: Faculty of Informatics, Osaka Gakuin
University,
March 2003.
- "An
overview of Sino-Tibetan morphosyntax." The Sino-Tibetan
Languages,
ed. by Graham Thurgood & Randy J. LaPolla 22-42. London & New
York:
Routledge, Jan. 2003.
- "Qiang." The
Sino-Tibetan
Languages, ed. by Graham Thurgood & Randy J. LaPolla, 573-587.
London & New York: Routledge, Jan. 2003.
- "Dulong."
The
Sino-Tibetan
Languages, ed. by Graham Thurgood & Randy J. LaPolla, 674-682.
London & New York: Routledge, Jan. 2003.
- "Chuanda
Xinxi
de Xingzhi,
Yuyan de Benzhi he Yuyan de Fazhan (The Nature of Communication and
Language
and the Development of Language)" (with Dory Poa). Hanyu Yufa
Yanjiu
de Xin Tuozhan -- 21 Shiji Shoujie Xiandai Hanuyu Yufa Guoji Yantaohui
Lunwenji, ed. by Xu Liejiong and Shao Jinmin (editors in chief),
with
K.K. Luke & Shan Zhourao, 432-442. Hangzhou: Zhejiang Jiaoyu
Chubanshe,
Dec. 2002.
- "Xinxi
Chuanda
de Xingzhi
yu Yuyan de Benzhi he Yuyan de Fazhan (The Nature of Communication and
Language, and their Influence on Language Development)" (with Dory
Poa). Zhongguo
Yuwen 2002.3 (May):203-209.
- "Problems
of
Methodology
and Explanation in Word Order Universals Research", Dongfang
Yuyan
yu
Wenhua (Languages and Cultures of the East), ed. by Pan Wuyun,
204-237.
Shanghai: Dongfang Chuban Zhongxin, Feb. 2002.
- "The Role
of
Migration
and Language Contact in the Development of the Sino-Tibetan Language
Family", Areal
Diffusion and Genetic Inheritance: Case Studies in Language Change,
ed. by R. M. W. Dixon & A. Y. Aikhenvald, 225-254. Oxford: Oxford
University
Press, November 2001.
- "Dulong
Texts:
Seven
Fully Analyzed Narrative and Procedural Texts." Linguistics of the
Tibeto-Burman
Area 24(Fall 2001).2:1-39. (pre-publication
draft)
- Review of A
Grammar
of Meithei (Mouton Grammar Library 17), by Shobhana L. Chelliah,
Berlin:
Mouton de Gruyter. Lingua
110(2000).4:299-304.
- "Valency-changing
Derivations in Dulong/Rawang." Changing Valency: Case Studies
in
Transitivity,
ed. by R. M. W. Dixon & Alexandra Y. Aikhenvald, 282-311.
Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 2000.
- Book review
of Language
Atlas of China, (Pacific Linguistics, Series C, No. 102), ed. by
S.
A. Wurm et al. Hong Kong: Longman Group (Far East) Ltd., 1987. International
Review of Chinese Linguistics 1(1997).1:92-100.
- "Dulong/Riwangyu
Dongci
de Fanshen he Zhongjiantai Biaozhi." (Chinese version of "Reflexive and
Middle Marking in Dulong/Rawang") Collected Essays of Chinese
Minority
Languages, ed. by Dai Qingxia, Zeng Siqi, Cheng Yanyan, Ding
Shiqing,
and Fu Ailan, 13-34. Beijing: Central University of Nationalities
Press,
1996.
- "Middle
Marking
in Tibeto-Burman." Proceedings
of the Fourth International Symposium on Languages and Linguistics:
Pan-Asiatic
Linguistics (January 8-10, 1996), Volume 5: 1940-1954.
- Book review
of Advances
in Role and Reference Grammar, ed. by Robert D. Van Valin, Jr.,
John
Benjamins Publishing Co., 1993. Sprachtypologie &
Universalienforschung
49(1996).2:177-221.
- "On the
Utility
of the
Concepts of Markedness and Prototypes in Understanding the Development
of Morphological Systems." Bulletin
of the Institute of History and Philology 66(1995).4:1149-1185.
- "Ergative
Marking in
Tibeto-Burman." New Horizons in Tibeto-Burman Morpho-syntax
(Senri
Ethnological
Studies 41), ed. by Yoshio Nishi, James A. Matisoff, & Yasuhiko
Nagano, 189-228. Osaka: National
Museum
of Ethnology, 1995.
- Book review
of Understanding
Utterances: An Introduction to Pragmatics, by Diane Blakemore,
Oxford,
UK & Cambridge, USA: Blackwell, 1992. Language
71(1995).1.
- "Pragmatic
Relations and Word Order in Chinese." Word Order in Discourse,
ed.
by Pamela Downing & Michael Noonan, 297-329. Amsterdam &
Philadelphia: Benjamins
Pub. Co., 1995. (downloadable
Chinese translation of this paper by Zhang Weidong)
- "An
Experimental
Investigation
into Sound Symbolism as it Relates to Mandarin Chinese." Studies
in
Sound Symbolism, ed. by Leanne Hinton, Johanna Nichols, and John
Ohala,
130-147. Cambridge: Cambridge
University
Press, 1995.
- "Parallel
Grammaticalizations
in Tibeto-Burman: Evidence of Sapir's 'Drift'." Linguistics
of the Tibeto-Burman Area 17.1(1994).
- Book notice
(review)
of The Classical Tibetan Language, by Stephan V. Beyer, SUNY
Press,
1992. Language
70(1994).1:195-6.
- "Variable
Finals
in
Proto-Sino-Tibetan." Bulletin
of the Institute of History and Philology 65.1(1994):131-173.
- "Arguments
Against 'Subject' and 'Direct Object' as Viable Concepts in Chinese."
Bulletin
of the Institute of History and Philology 63.4(1993):759-813.
- "On the
Change
to Verb-Medial
Word Order in Proto-Chinese: Evidence from Tibeto-Burman." Current
Issues
in Sino-Tibetan Linguistics, ed. by H. Kitamura, T. Nishida, and Y.
Nagano, 98-104. Osaka: National
Museum of
Ethnology,
1993.
- "ZangMian
Yuzu
Dongci
de Rencheng Biaozhi: Qi Xingzhi ji Qiyuan Shidai" (Chinese version of
"On
the Dating and Nature of Verb Agreement in Tibeto Burman"). Minzu
Yicong
1993.4:42-52.
- Book review
of Contributions
to Linguistic Research from China, ed. by Alfred F. Majewicz,
Poznan,
1991. Languages of the World, Issue No. 7:49-51 (1993.2).
- "Anti-ergative
Marking
in Tibeto-Burman." Linguistics
of the Tibeto-Burman Area 15.1(1992):1-9. (full
PDF paper)
- "On
the
Dating
and Nature
of Verb Agreement in Tibeto Burman." Bulletin of the School of
Oriental
and African Studies 55.2(1992):298-315. (abstract,
full
published paper in pdf format)
- "The
Phonetic
Development
of Tibetan: A Problem Set." Linguistics
of the Tibeto-Burman Area 11.2(1989):91-95.
- "A Computer
Application
of Matthew Chen's 'From Middle Chinese to Modern Mandarin'." Journal
of Chinese Linguistics 16.2(1988):339-344.
- "Verb
Agreement,
Head-Marking
vs. Dependent-Marking, and the 'Deconstruction' of Tibeto-Burman
Morpho-Syntax." Proceedings
of the 15th Annual Meeting of the Berkeley Linguistics Society
(Feb.
18-20, 1989), ed. by Kira Hall, Michael Meacham & Richard Shapiro,
355-365. Berkeley
Linguistics Society
- "Dulongyu he
Yuanshi
Zang-Mianyu Bijiao Yanjiu" (Chinese translation, by Le Saiyue, of
"Dulong
and Proto-Tibeto-Burman"). Minzu Yuwen Yanjiu Qingbao Ziliaoji 11(1989):49-78
(Part I); 12(1989):19-42.
- "'Subject'
and
Referent
Tracking: Arguments for a Discourse-Based Grammar of Chinese." Proceedings
of the West Coast Conference on Linguistics (Fresno, October 14-16,
1988), Volume I, ed. by Joseph Emonds, P.J. Mistry, Vida Samiian &
Linda Thornburg, 160-173. Dept. of Linguistics, California State
University,
Fresno.
- "Topicalization
and
the Question of Lexical Passives in Chinese." Proceedings of
the
Third
Annual Ohio State University Conference on Chinese Linguistics (May
13-14, 1988), ed. by Marjorie K.M. Chan & Thomas Ernst, 170-188.
Indiana
University Linguistics Club.
- "Dulong and
Proto-Tibeto-Burman." Linguistics
of the Tibeto-Burman Area 10.1(1987): 1-42.
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of Contents
PUBLISHED
TRANSLATIONS
- "On the
Languages of
the Jingpo Nationality." By Dai Qingxia, Central Institute of
Nationality
Studies. Linguistics
of the Tibeto-Burman Area 22.2 (1999).
- "On
Nationality
and
the Recognition of Tibeto-Burman Languages." By Sun Hongkai, Chinese
Academy
of Social Sciences. Linguistics
of the Tibeto-Burman Area 15.2 (1992):1-20.
- "On the
Status
of Tones
in the Suomo Dialect of rGyarong" By Dai Qingxia, Central Institute of
Nationality Studies. Linguistics
of the Tibeto-Burman Area15.2(1992):21-32.
- "On the
Origin
and Development
of Noun Classifiers in Jingpo," By Xu Xijian, Chinese Academy of Social
Sciences. Linguistics
of the Tibeto-Burman Area 12.2(1989):15-23.
- "A
Preliminary
Investigation
into the Relationship between Qionglong Culture and the Languages of
the
Qiang Branch of Tibeto-Burman." By Sun Hongkai, Chinese Academy of
Social
Sciences. Linguistics
of the Tibeto-Burman Area 12.1(1989):92-109.
- "My Work in
Tibeto-Burman."
By Dai Qingxia, Central Institute of Nationality Studies. Linguistics
of the Tibeto-Burman Area 11.2(1989):1-4.
- "Characteristics
of
the Language of Traditional Songs of the Jingpo Nationality." By Dai
Qingxia,
Central Institute of Nationality Studies. Linguistics
of the Tibeto-Burman Area 10.1(1987):86-116.
- "On the
Evolution of
Tibetan Final -s." By Tan Keran, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. Linguistics
of the Tibeto-Burman Area 10.1(1987):152-165.
Return to Table
of Contents
UNPUBLISHED
MANUSCRIPTS
Return to Table
of Contents
CONFERENCE
PAPERS (not fully up to date; titles with links are unpublished--see
above for other titles)
- "Constituent
structure of a Tagalog text". Plenary address to
10th Philippine Linguistics Congress, University of the Philippines,
10-12 December, 2008.
- "Transitivity
and Transitivity Alternations in Rawang and Qiang".
Invited paper presented to the International Workshop on the Languages
of Sichuan, Institute of Linguistics, Academia Sinica, 21-24 November,
2008.
- "Causes
and effects of substratum, superstratum and adstratum influence, with
reference to Tibeto-Burman languages". Invited paper presented to
the Symposium on Linguistic Substrata in the Tibeto-Burman Area,
National Museum of Ethnology, Osaka, September 9-11, 2008.
- "Questions on
transitivity". Presentation to open the Workshop on Transitivity, Research Centre for
Linguistic Typology, La Trobe University, 21 August, 2008.
- "'Transitivity
Harmony' in the Rawang Language of Northern Myanmar". Paper
presented to the Annual Meeting of the Australian Linguistic Society,
University of Sydney, 2-4 July, 2008.
- "Relative Clause Structures in the Rawang Language". Paper
presented to the International Workshop on Relative Clauses, Institute
of Linguistics, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan, 2-3 November.
(Actually presented 12/11/07)
- "Language Contact and Language Change in the History of the
Sino-Tibetan Languages". Paper presented at The Beijing Forum, Peking
University, Beijing Foreign Studies University, and the Chinese Academy
of Social Sciences, Great Hall of the People, Beijing, and Peking
University, 2-4 November, 2007.
- "Hierarchical person
marking in Rawang". Paper presented to the
40th International Conference on Sino-Tibetan Languages and
Linguistics, Harbin, China, 26-29 Sept., 2007.
- "Word-class-changing
derivations in Rawang". Invited paper
presented to the Workshop on Word-class-changing Derivations, Research
Centre for Linguistic Typology, Institute for Advanced Study, La Trobe
University, 13 June, 2007.
- "Nominalization and copulas in Rawang". Invited keynote address
to International Workshop on Nominalizers and Copulas in East Asian and
Neighboring Languages, Chinese University of Hong Kong, 9-12 January,
2007.
- "Cong yuyan, fangyan de bijiao kan yuyan de lishi yanbian
(Understanding the historical development of a language from comparing
it with related languages and dialects)". Invited plenary address to
the 2006 International Conference on Comparative East Asian
Linguistics, Shanghai Normal University, December 25-27, 2006.
- "Nominalization in Rawang". Invited keynote address to the 39th
International Conference on Sino-Tibetan Languages and Linguistics,
University of Washington, Seattle, 15-17 September, 2006.
- "The how
and why of syntactic relations". Invited plenary address
and keynote of the Centre for Research on Language Change Workshop on
Grammatical Change at the Annual Conference of the Australian
Linguistics Society, University of Queensland, 7-9 July, 2006.
- "Clause linking in
Dulong-Rawang". Invited paper presented to the
Workshop on the Semantics of Clause Linking, Research Centre for
Linguistic Typology, Institute for Advanced Study, La Trobe University,
24 May, 2006.
- "When SVO isn’t: On clause structure in Mandarin Chinese".
Australian Linguistics Society Annual Conference, Melbourne, 28-30
September, 2005.
- "Direct
and indirect speech in Tagalog" (Randy J. LaPolla &
Dory Poa). Workshop on Direct and Indirect Speech, Research Centre for
Linguistic Typology, La Trobe University, June 8, 2005.
- "Di er yuyan xide dui di yi yuyan de yingxiang (The influence of
second language acquisition on one’s first language)" Keynote speech
presented at the 4th International Conference on Bilingual Studies,
Jinan University, January 8-9, 2005.
- "Comparative
constructions in Rawang." Invited paper presented at
the Workshop on Comparative Constructions, Research Centre for
Linguistic Typology, Institute for Advanced Study, LaTrobe University,
Nov. 3, 2004.
- "The
inclusive-exclusive distinction in Tibeto-Burman languages.”
Paper presented at the 36th International Conference on Sino-Tibetan
Languages and Linguistics, La Trobe University, Melbourne, November 28,
2003.
- "Copula
constructions in Rawang". Invited paper presented at the Workshop on
Copula
Clauses and Verbless Clauses, Research
Centre for Linguistic Typology, Institute
for Advanced Study, LaTrobe University, October 30, 2002.
- "The
Copula and Existential verbs in Qiang" (with Chenglong HUANG). Invited
paper presented at the Workshop on Copula Clauses and Verbless Clauses,
Research
Centre for Linguistic Typology, Institute
for Advanced Study, LaTrobe University, Sept. 4, 2002.
- "Adjectives
in
Qiang"
(with Chenglong HUANG). Invited paper presented at the Workshop
on Adjective Classes, Research
Centre for Linguistic Typology, Institute
for Advanced Study, LaTrobe University, August 12-17, 2002.
- "Typology
and
Complexity".
Invited paper presented at the 3rd Workshop on Language Acquisition,
Change,
and Evolution (Theme: Language and Complexity), Chinese Linguistics
Institute,
City University of Hong Kong, May 2-4, 2002.
- "The Marking
of
Information
Source in Ronghong Qiang". Invited paper presented at the Workshop on
Tibeto-Burman
Linguistics, Institute of Linguistics, Academia Sinica, Taiwan, April
10-12,
2002.
- "Evidentiality
in the
Qiang language". Invited paper presented at the Workshop
on Evidentiality, Research
Centre for Linguistic Typology, Institute
for Advanced Study, LaTrobe University, August 6-11, 2001.
- "Ostension
he
inference
yu yufahua de guocheng (Ostension, Inference, and the process of
grammaticalization)".
Invited plenary (keynote) paper presented (in Chinese) at the First
International
Conference on Modern Chinese Grammar for the New Millenium, City
University
of Hong Kong, Feb. 1-3, 2001.
- "Subgrouping
in
Tibeto-Burman:
Can an individual-identifying standard be developed? How do we factor
in
the history of migrations and language contact?" Paper presented at
the
33rd International Conference on Sino-Tibetan Languages and
Linguistics,
Bangkok and Trang, October 2-6, 2000.
- "Nominalization
and
complementation in Northern Qiang." Invited paper presented at the
Workshop
on Qiangic Languages and Linguistics, Institute of Linguistics,
Preparatory
Office, Academia Sinica, Taipei, November 6-7, 1999.
- "Factors
involved in
language change: Evidence from Sino-Tibetan." Invited paper presented
at
the Workshop on the Connection Between Areal Diffusion and the Genetic
Model of Language Relationship, Research Centre for Linguistic
Typology,
Australian National University, August 17-22, 1998.
- "Morphosyntactic
means
for variable event profiling in Dulong-Rvwang." Paper presented at the
30th International Conference on Sino-Tibetan Languages and
Linguistics,
Beijing, August 24-28, 1997.
- "Argument
determined
constructions in Dulong/Rvwang." Invited paper presented at the
Workshop
on Valency-Changing Derivations, Research Centre for Linguistic
Typology,
Australian National University, August 18-23, 1997.
- "Middle
Marking
in Tibeto-Burman."
Paper presented at the Fourth International Symposium on Languages and
Linguistics: Pan-Asiatic Linguistics, Bangkok, January 8-10, 1996.
- "Reflexive
and
Middle
Marking in Dulong/Rawang." Paper presented at the 28th International
Conference
on Sino-Tibetan Languages and Linguistics, Oct. 6-10, 1995, University
of Virginia, Charlottesville.
- "Patterns of
Isomorphy
in the Case Marking Systems of Tibeto-Burman Languages." Paper
presented
at the 27th International Conference on Sino-Tibetan Languages and
Linguistics,
Paris, October 12-16th, 1994.
- "Word Order
Patterns
in Sino-Tibetan: Their Significance to Theories of Explanation in
Typology."
Invited paper presented at the Symposium on Language Typology, Tsukuba
University, Japan, January 19-21, 1994.
- "Ergative
Marking in
Tibeto-Burman." Paper (one of two) presented at the 26th International
Conference on Sino-Tibetan Languages and Linguistics, Museum of
Ethnology,
Osaka, September 13-18th, 1993.
- "On the
Change
to Verb-Medial
Word Order in Proto-Chinese: Evidence from Tibeto-Burman." Paper
(one of two) presented at the 26th International Conference on
Sino-Tibetan
Languages and Linguistics, Museum of Ethnology, Osaka, September
13-18th,
1993.
- "Variable
Finals
in
Proto-Sino-Tibetan." Paper (one of two) presented at the 25th
International
Conference on Sino-Tibetan Languages and Linguistics, U.C. Berkeley,
October
14-18th, 1992.
- "Parallel
Grammaticalizations
in Tibeto-Burman: Evidence of Sapir's 'Drift'". Paper (one of two)
presented
at the 25th International Conference on Sino-Tibetan Languages and
Linguistics,
U.C. Berkeley, October 14-18th, 1992.
- "The Primary
Object
in Tibeto-Burman." Paper presented to the 2nd International Symposium
on
Chinese Languages and Linguistics, Academia Sinica, August 9-11, 1991.
- "On the
Grammaticalization
of Information Structure in Mandarin Chinese." Paper presented to the
1989
Annual Meeting of the Linguistic Society of America, Washington D.C.,
December
27-30, 1989.
- "On
Sino-Tibetan
Diachronic
Syntax." Paper presented to the 22nd International Conference on
Sino-Tibetan
Languages and Linguistics, University of Hawaii, Oct. 6-8, 1989.
- "Verb
Agreement,
Head-Marking
vs. Dependent-Marking, and the 'Deconstruction' of Tibeto-Burman
Morpho-Syntax."
Paper presented to the 15th Annual Meeting of the Berkeley Linguistics
Society, UC Berkeley, Feb. 18-20, 1989.
- "'Subject'
and
Referent
Tracking: Arguments for a Discourse-Based Grammar of Chinese." Paper
presented
to the West Coast Conference on Linguistics, California State
University,
Fresno, October 14-16, 1988.
- "Topicalization
and
the Question of Lexical Passives in Chinese." Paper presented to the
Third
Annual Ohio State University Conference on Chinese Linguistics, Ohio
State
University, May 13-14, 1988.
- "An
Experimental
Investigation
into Sound Symbolism as it Relates to Mandarin Chinese." Paper
presented
to Conference on Sound Symbolism, U.C. Berkeley, Jan. 19-21, 1986.
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of Contents
ASIAN
LANGUAGES ON WHICH I HAVE DONE FIELDWORK
- Cambodian
- Chinese
dialects
(Southern
Fujian, Beijing subdialects, Shanghai, Guangzhou dialects)
- Dulong
(Trung,
T'rung;
1st, 3rd, 4th township and Nujiang dialects)
- Qiang
(Ronghong
and
Qugu varieties of the northern dialect)
- Rawang
("Nung";
Matwang
and Daru dialects)
- Tagalog
- Vietnamese
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of Contents
EDUCATION
- Ph.D in
Linguistics,
1990, Department of
Linguistics , University
of California, Berkeley.
Ph.D
Dissertation: Grammatical
relations in Chinese: Synchronic and diachronic considerations. (abstract)
- M.A. in
Linguistics,
1988, Department of
Linguistics , University
of California, Berkeley.
- Two years
of
graduate
work in Linguistics at Peking
University,
September 1981 - July 1983, Beijing, China.
- M.A. in
Applied Linguistics
(TESOL), 1980, Department
of Linguistics , State
University of New York at Stony Brook.
- B.A. in
Asian
Studies,
1978, State University
of New York at Stony Brook.
- Also
attended
the 1987
(Stanford) and 1992 (UC Santa Cruz) LSA Institutes, and the 1998
Australian
Linguistics Institute (University of Queensland, Brisbane).
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of Contents
OTHER
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
- Visiting
Professor
(Directeur d'Etudes), September - November, 1994
Ecole des Hautes
Etudes en Sciences Sociales
Paris, France
- Adjunct
Associate
Professor, 1991 - 1993
National
Tsing-Hua University
Hsinchu, Taiwan,
ROC.
Taught four
classes:
Pragmatics, Functional Syntax, Typology, and Tibeto-Burman Linguistics.
- Graduate
Student
Instructor III, Linguistics 5 (Introduction to Linguistics), Fall,
1987
Department
of Linguistics, University of
California,
Berkeley.
Created and graded
exams, homework; led discussion sections.
- Graduate
Student
Instructor II, Chinese 10A-10B (Intermediate Chinese), Aug. 1986 -
May 1987
Department of
Oriental
Languages, University of
California,
Berkeley.
Taught classes,
created and graded exams, homeworks.
- English
as
a Second
Language Instructor, various courses, September 1980 - July
1981
Department of
Continuing
Education, East China Normal University, Shanghai.
Developed and
taught
my own courses.
- Editor/Writer/Translator
and Director of Research and Development
Eurasia Press /
China Passage, New York, 1983 - 1985.
Most noteworthy:
as Contributing Editor, did major rewrite of large portions of The
China
Guidebook for the 1984 and 1985 editions, and worked as
Advisor/Translator
for the first and second W. H. Kellogg Foundation China Study Tours,
May
12 - June 12 and June 13 - July 11, 1984, respectively.
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of Contents
FELLOWSHIPS/GRANTS/HONORS
- Invited to join the Editorial Board of Minzu Yuwen (Nationality
Languages), January 2006.
- Elected Vice President of the Australian Linguistics Society,
September 2005.
- Selected by Ministry of Education of the PRC to be a Cheung Kong
Scholar , February 2005.
- Elected Vice President of the International Association for
Bilingual Studies, January 2005.
- Invited to join the Editorial Board of Nankai Yuyanxue Kan
(Linguistics Journal of Nankai University ), July 2005.
- Invited to join the Editorial Board of Language and Linguistics,
April 2004.
- Invited to join the International Advisory Board of Diachronica:
International Journal for Historical Linguistics, 2002.
- Principle Investigator for Qiang Dialect Atlas Project, Strategic
Research Grant funded by City
University of Hong Kong., July 1, 2001-June 30, 2003.
- Invited to
join
the
International Advisory Board of Diachronica:
International Journal for Historical Linguistics, 2002.
- Principle
Investigator
for Qiang Dialect Atlas Project, Strategic Research Grant
funded
by City University of Hong Kong.,
July 1, 2001-June 30, 2003.
- Co-authored
book, Syntax:
Structure, Meaning, and Function (Cambridge Textbooks in Linguistics
Series;
with Robert D. Van Valin, Jr. Cambridge University Press, 1997),
nominated
for the Linguistic Society of America's Bloomfield Book Award, January
2000.
- Principle
Investigator
for Rawang Texts and Dictionary Project, Small-Scale Research
Grant
funded by City University of Hong
Kong.,
September 1-December 31, 2000.
- Principle
Investigator
for Tibeto-Burman Morphosyntax, Strategic Research Grant funded
by City University of Hong Kong,
September 1997- August 1999, renewed for September 1999-August 2000.
- Principle
Investigator
for Project for Fieldwork on and Analysis of the Dulong and Anong
Languages,
Strategic Research Grant funded by City
University of Hong Kong, September 1997- August 1999.
- Invited to
become a
Consulting Editor of Studies
in Language, 1997.
- Principle
Investigator
for Grammar, Texts, and Glossary of the Northern Qiang dialect
funded
by City University of Hong Kong,
1997.
- Award for
"Excellence
in Research" from the National
Science
Council of the ROC, February 1995.
- Principle
Investigator
for Rawang/Dulong Fieldwork Project, funded by the Program
for Southeast Asian Area Studies, Academia Sinica, August 1994-July
1997.
- Associate
Investigator
for Project for Fieldwork on and Analysis of Qiangic Languages
(Gong
Hwang-cherng, Principle Investigator), funded by the Chiang
Ching-kuo Foundation, July 1994-June 1996.
- Award for
"Excellent
Publication on the Minority Languages of China" from the Ministry of
Education
of the ROC, May 1994.
- Principle
Investigator
for Northern Qiang Dialect Fieldwork Project, funded by the National
Science Council of the ROC, April 1994-July 1996.
- Award for
"Excellence
in Research" from the National
Science
Council of the ROC, March 1994.
- Principle
Investigator
for Project on Tibeto-Burman Comparative Morphology, funded by National
Science Council of the ROC, August 1992-July 1993.
- Invited to
become a
member of the Editorial Committee of Linguistics
of the Tibeto-Burman Area, September 1990.
- Newhouse
Fund
Grant
(unsolicited), Spring 1989.
- U.C.
Berkeley
Institute
of East Asian Studies Fellowship (unsolicited), 1986-87.
- U.S.
Department
of Education
Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowships for advanced work in
Chinese
language and linguistics, 1984-85, and 1985-86.
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of Contents
Last updated Juny 12, 2009
