Postdoctoral Research Associate Romance Syntax/Semantics (Fixed Term)

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The Role
We are seeking to appoint a second Postdoctoral Research Associate to join the Leverhulme Trust funded project, ‘How autonomous is syntax? A case study of Romance causation and perception'.

The post will run from 1 September 2024 to 31st August 2027, the length of this three-year project.

The project is led by Professor Michelle Sheehan in the School of English Literature, Language and Linguistics at Newcastle University, in collaboration with Professor Sonia Cyrino, State University of Campinas, Professor Adam Ledgeway, University of Cambridge and Professor Robert Truswell, University of Edinburgh. In addition to this position, the project will also host a funded PhD student and another postdoctoral Research Associate, both also based in Newcastle. Project members will work together to investigate the transparency of the syntax/semantics mapping in relation to causative (‘make'/‘let') and perception verbs (‘see'/‘hear'/‘watch') across Romance varieties. Comparing closely related varieties in this way allows a focus on ‘microparametric' grammatical differences (Kayne 2005) and their concomitant semantic effects. Because this area of grammar displays rich syntactic variation both within and across Romance varieties, it is the perfect testing ground for theories of the syntax/semantics interface.

The project will investigate this issue with data from three main sources: online corpora, work with language consultants and online acceptability judgement tasks. A key contribution of the project will be to collect parallel data from (at least) nine Romance varieties: Italian, French, Catalan, European and Brazilian Portuguese, Spanish, Romanian, and the Southern Italian Dialects Gallicianò Calabrian and Calimera Salentino.

The successful candidate will be responsible for the collection of data from several Romance varieties. Language expertise in at least two such varieties is essential. Additional language expertise in any of the other languages listed above (or in other Romance varieties) would also be a distinct advantage. A knowledge of Romance syntax is essential and an understanding of semantics is also highly desirable. While it is not expected that applicants will have worked previously on Romance causative and perception verbs, demonstrable potential to make a research contribution in this area of syntax/semantics is essential.

The successful candidate will be expected to attend regular in-person project meetings in Newcastle, participate fully in the research life of the School, work collaboratively with other project members, (co-)present papers at international conferences and (co-)author journal articles, as well as contributing to a planned project monograph.

It is envisaged that the successful candidate will hold a doctorate in Romance syntax and/or semantics and be able to demonstrate some postgraduate-level training (or have equivalent experience) in the use of corprora and/or online acceptability judgements, including statistical analysis of results. The post-holder will be based at Newcastle University and will work primarily under the direction of Professor Michelle Sheehan, but also in collaboration with the project Co-Is, the other PDRA and the project PhD student.

For further inquiries please contact: Professor Michelle Sheehan (michelle.sheehan1@newcastle.ac.uk).

Interviews will be held via Zoom on Tuesday 25th June 2024.

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