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Amsterdam Center for Language and Communication ACLC

Serial Verb Constructions across Modalities

In a serial verb construction (SVC), multiple independent lexical verbs are combined in a mono-clausal construction; this construction type is attested in numerous typologically unrelated languages, including creole and sign languages. In this research group, we address SVCs from a typological, theoretical, and psycholinguistic perspective.

Key objectives 

  • Identify common cross-linguistic patterns of SVCs.
  • Investigate potential modality-specific properties of SVCs.
  • Investigate the role of diachronic change: grammaticalization and language contact.
  • Develop formal approaches to account for structural properties of SVCs.
  • Investigate SVCs from a psycholinguistic perspective.

Activities

At present, we are in the process of putting together an edited volume on ‘Serial Predicates across Modalities’ (ed. by Roland Pfau, Cornelia Loos, and Beyza Sümer) to which many of the group members will contribute. It is expected that the volume will be published by Language Science Press in the course of 2025.

Coordinator and group members

Coordinator: Roland Pfau

Group members (preliminary list – in alphabetical order):

Enoch Aboh, Nora Boneh, Heleen Bos, Cindy van Boven, Jan Don, Pegah Faghiri, Hongmei Fang, Monique Flecken, Rene Genis, Sune Gregersen, Kees Hengeveld, Patricia Cabredo Hofherr, Jenia Khristoforova, Eva van Lier, Cornelia Loos, Mijke Mulder, Gautam Ottur, Roland Pfau, Elisabetta Ragagnin, Marieke Schouwstra, Beyza Sümer, Eline Visser, Katherine Walker, Liesbeth Zack