Sjef Barbiers
Professor of Dutch Linguistics
- Name
- Prof.dr. L.C.J. Barbiers
- Telephone
- +31 71 527 1637
- l.c.j.barbiers@hum.leidenuniv.nl
- ORCID iD
- 0000-0002-4983-7472
The central question of my research is: Which syntactic properties do all languages have in common, which properties are variable and which associations are there between these syntactic variables? The goal of this research is to contribute to a theory of natural language that explains the range and limits of syntactic variation.
Oration prof.dr. Sjef Barbiers
Due to the selected cookie settings, we cannot show this video here.
Watch the video on the original website orResearch
I compare the (morpho-)syntax of Dutch with closely related (dialectal) varieties of Dutch, against the background of what is known about the syntax of natural languages more generally. I combine theoretical, dialectological and sociolinguistic methods. The central hypothesis is that syntactic variation arises from the interaction between a small fixed set of syntactic principles with grammar internal modules such as the mental lexicon, phonological form, logical form and pragmatics on the one hand, and with grammar external cognitive and sociolinguistic factors on the other. More specifically I investigate the relation between the geographic distribution of (morpho-)syntactic variables and syntax as a mental system. I work with the large systematically collected dialect data sets and search and cartographic tools that are online available in DynaSAND, MIMORE and Edisyn. I am particularly interested in the (morpho-)syntax of verbs, auxiliaries and verb clusters, imperatives, focus particles, adverbs, scrambling, numerals,extraposition and syntactic doubling phenomena.
Curriculum vitae
| 2016 - | Professor of Dutch Linguistics, Leiden University |
| 2000 - 2016 | Researcher, Meertens Institute, Amsterdam |
| 2005 - 2016 | Professor by special appointment, chair Variation Linguistics of Dutch, Utrecht University |
| 1995 | PhD (cum laude), Leiden University; Dissertation: The Syntax of Interpretation. |
PhD Supervision
Current PhD projects
- Caitlin Meyer (UvA) - Acquisition of numerals and ordinals
- Lotte Hendriks (MI/UL) - Inclusion relations: Verb clusters and verb cluster interruption
Finished PhD projects (promotor and co-promotor)
- Eefje Boef
- Jeroen van Craenenbroeck
- Arantzazu Elordieta
- Bettina Gruber
- Mirjam Hachem
- Marko Hladnik
- Irene Haslinger
- Aniek IJbema
- Marjo van Koppen
- Marco René Spruit
- Mark de Vos
Grants and awards
| 2017 - 2021 |
Detecting Syntactic Differences Automatically (Leiden University) |
| 2013 - 2017 | Maps and Grammar (NWO Vrije Competitie) |
| 2013 - 2017 | Language and Number (NWO Horizon; part of Knowledge and Culture) |
| 2015 - 2018 | CLARIAH (NWO Roadmap) |
| 2004 - 2010 | European Dialect Syntax (EURYI grant, ESF) |
| 2010 - 2011 | MIMORE (NWO CLARIN) |
Professor of Dutch Linguistics
- Faculty of Humanities
- Leiden Univ Centre for Linguistics
- LUCL Nederlands
- Bogaards M.P.M., Boogaart R.J.U. & Barbiers L.C.J. (2022), The syntax of progressive and ingressive 'aanhet'-constructions in Dutch, Linguistics in the Netherlands 39(1): 2-20.
- Barbiers L.C.J. (2022), Apparent syntax-semantics mismatches in the distribution of adverbs. Why semantics alone is not enough: a reply to Fortuin (2022), Nederlandse Taalkunde 27(1): 15-23.
- Barbiers L.C.J. (2022), Dit lees maar!. In: Oostendorp M. van & Wolff S. (Eds.) Het dialectendoeboek. De schatkamer van 90 jaar Meertens Instituut. Gorredijk: Sterck en de Vreese. 19-23.
- Barbiers S, Delbar N., Fanselow G., Nauta S. & Rothert J. (2022), On the asymmetry of wh-doubling in varieties of German and Dutch. [Working paper].
- Alem A.H.J. van & Barbiers L.C.J. (2021), Poor weak het 'it' and agreement patterns in pronominal clefts, Acta Linguistica Hafniensia 53(2): 221-241.
- Barbiers L.C.J. (2021) Review of [Acquiring Dutch quantitative ER] by [Berends, S.]. Review of: Berends S. (2019), Acquiring Dutch quantitative ER. LOT Dissertations. Amsterdam. Nederlandse Taalkunde 26(1): 143-146.
- Kroon M.S., Barbiers L.C.J. & Odijk J. Pas S.L. van der (2020), Detecting syntactic differences automatically using the Minimum Description Length principle, Computational Linguistics in the Netherlands 2000 10: 109-127.
- Barbiers L.C.J. (2020), Laboratoriumzinnen in het tijdperk van de kwantitatieve taalkunde, Nederlandse Taalkunde 25(2-3): 177-179.
- Meyer C., Barbiers L.C.J. & Weerman F. (2020), Many systems, one strategy: acquiring ordinals in Dutch and English, Glossa: a journal of general linguistics 5(1): 1-31 (100).
- Barbiers L.C.J. (2020), A sociogrammatical analysis of linguistic gaps and transitional forms. In: Beaman K., Buchstaller I., Fox S. & Walker J.A. (Eds.), Advancing Socio-grammatical Variation and Change. In Honour of Jenny Cheshire. New York: Routledge. 1-15.
- Kroon M.S., Barbiers L.C.J., Odijk J. & Pas S.L. van der (2019), A filter for syntactically incomparable parallel sentences, Linguistics in the Netherlands 36(1): 147-161.
- Barbiers L.C.J. (2019), Fluïde dialectgebieden. In: Tier V. de, Gyselen A. & Wijngaard T. van de (Eds.), De wondere wereld van de streektaalgrenzen: lezingen gehouden op de internationale streektaalconferentie. Leiden: Stichting Nederlandse Dialecten. 15-26.
- Barbiers L.C.J. (2018), Adverbs in Strange Places. On the Syntax of Adverbs in Dutch, Nederlandse Taalkunde 23(1): 57-88.
- Barbiers L.C.J. (8 December 2017). De zonnige toekomst van de Nederlandse Taalkunde. Leiden University Centre for Linguistics (LUCL), Humanities, Leiden. Leiden. [inaugural address].
- Barbiers L.C.J. & Alem A. van (5 October 2017), The case of Dutch and its dialects [Workshop on Case impoverished Germanic. Lund University Oct 5-6]. [lecture].
- Barbiers L.C.J. (4 October 2017), On the role of geography in mental grammar research [Kick off meeting SFB 1287 project Limits of Variability in Language: Cognitive, Grammatical and Social Aspects. University of Potsdam, Oct 4]. [lecture].
- Meyer C., Barbiers L.C.J. & Weerman F. (7 September 2017), Two systems, one strategy: acquiring ordinals in Dutch and English [Generative Approaches to Language Acquisition (GALA) 2017, Universitat de les Illes Balears, Palma de Mallorca, Sept 7–9]. [lecture].
- Barbiers L.C.J. (2017), Kwantitatief 'er' en 'ze', Nederlandse Taalkunde 22(2): 163-187.
- Barbiers L.C.J., Koppen M. van & Bennis H. (24 August 2017), Brabantish as a transitional grammar between Flemish and Dutch. Evidence from determiner doubling and subject doubling [Workshop Linguistic Knowledge and Patterns of Variation. Meertens Instituut, Amsterdam, August 24-25]. [lecture].
- Barbiers L.C.J., Bennis H. & Dros-Hendriks L. (24 August 2017), Putting verb clusters on the map [Workshop Linguistic Knowledge and Patterns of Variation. Meertens Instituut, Amsterdam, August 24-25]. [lecture].
- Meyer C. & Barbiers L.C.J. (2017), Ordinal variables: acquiring ordinal numerals in Dutch and English. The 11th Mediterranean Morphology Meeting (MMM11), University of Cyprus, Nicosia. 22 June 2017 - 25 June 2017. [conference poster].
- Barbiers L.C.J. (12 June 2017), The Lexicon in Generative Grammar [Lorentz workshop The Mental Lexicon, Leiden University. June 12-16]. [lecture].
- Barbiers L.C.J. (24 May 2017), Geographical Patterns in Syntactic Change [Workshop Nederlab Wetenschappelijke project. Meertens Instituut, Amsterdam, 24 mei]. [lecture].
- Barbiers L.C.J. (21 April 2017), Interdisciplinarity of Linguistic Research [PhD Seminar Communicating your research across disciplinary boundaries. University of Groningen, April 21]. [lecture].
- Barbiers L.C.J. (20 April 2017), Detecting Syntactic Differences Automatically [Leiden University Centre for Digital Humanities Opening symposium, April 20]. [lecture].
- Meyer C., Barbiers L.C.J. & Weerman F. (16 March 2017), "Can kids order a sandwich?'' On (the acquisition of) ordinals in West Germanic [A Germanic Sandwich 2017, Munster, Germany, March 16-18]. [lecture].
- Bylinina L., Barbiers L.C.J. & Sleeman R. (2017), The Typology of Numerals and the Number Line [18th Szklarska Poręba Workshop. Szklarska Poręba, Poland, March 3]. [conference poster].
- Barbiers L.C.J. (6 February 2017), Why should I use Linked Open Data for my research? [CLARIAH Workshop Linked Open Data for Linguistic Research. Utrecht, February 6]. [lecture].
- Barbiers L.C.J. (2017), Adverbs and Bridges. In: Barbiers L.C.J. (Ed.), A pesky set: A festschrift for David Pesetsky. MIT Working Papers in Linguistics 15-24.
- Barbiers L.C.J. (2017), Adverbs in strange places, Nederlandse Taalkunde : .
- Barbiers L.C.J., Bennis H. & Dros-Hendriks L. (2017), Merging Verb Clusters, Linguistic Variation : .
- Barbiers L.C.J. & Dooren A. van (2017), Modal Auxiliaries. In: Barbiers L.C.J. & Dooren A. van (Eds.), The Companion to Syntax: John Wiley.
- Meyer C., Barbiers L.C.J. & Weerman F. (2017), Ordinals are not as easy as one, two, three: The acquisition of cardinals and ordinals in Dutch, Language Acquisition 25(4): 392-417.
- Barbiers L.C.J. (2017), Structural dialectology of the Dutch language area. The relations between the grammars of Flemish, Brabantish and Dutch [ICLAVE Workshop 'Is syntactic variation special?' University of Malaga]. [lecture].
- Barbiers L.C.J. (16 December 2016), Adverbiale Syntaxis [Dag van de Nederlandse Zinsbouw. UvA, Amsterdam, December 16]. [lecture].
- Barbiers L.C.J. (1 December 2016), Restructuring Bridges [31st Comparative Germanic Syntax Workshop (CGSW). Stellenbosch, Dec 1-3]. [lecture].
- Barbiers L.C.J. (20 October 2016), Restructuring Bridges [Com(parative) Syn(tax) Meetings. Leiden University, October 20]. [lecture].
- Barbiers L.C.J. (14 October 2016), Restructuring Bridges [47th Annual Meeting of North East Linguistic Society (NELS), Amherst, Massachusetts, USA, Oct 14-16]. [lecture].
- Meyer C., Barbiers L.C.J. & Weerman F. (2016), The rule-based acquisition of ordinals: evidence from Dutch and English [LSA 2017 Annual Meeting. Austin, TX, January 5–8]. [conference poster].
- Barbiers L.C.J. (2016), Four perspectives on syntactic variation research [LUCL meeting, Nov 2016]. [lecture].
- Barbiers L.C.J. (2016), Locating people with their language – An Applied Linguistics Course using linguistic microvariation databases and tools. In: Barbiers L.C.J. (Ed.), Creating and Digitzing Language Corpora no. 3: Palgrave.
- Barbiers L.C.J., Koppen M. van, Bennis H. & Corver N. (2016), Microcomparative Morposyntactic Research (MIMORE). Mapping partial grammars of Flemish, Brabantish and Dutch, Lingua 178: 5-31.
- Barbiers L.C.J. (2016), Noord-Brabants tussen Nederlands en Duits. Variatie in de syntaxis van imperatiefzinnen, Leuvense Bijdragen: Tijdschrift voor Germaanse Filologie (999-100): 320-336.
- Barbiers L.C.J. (2016), Opposite forces in language. The linguistic work of Hans Bennis, Nederlandse Taalkunde 21(3): 339-354.
- Meyer C., Barbiers L.C.J. & Weerman F. (2016), Order and Ordinality. The acquisition of cardinals and ordinals in Dutch. Meyer C., Barbiers L.C.J. & Weerman F. (Eds.), Proceedings of the 40th Boston University Conference on Language Development. : Cascadilla Press. 253-266.
- Lid Domeinbestuur SGW
- University program Language and Space
- wetenschappelijk advies aan en over onderzoeksinstituut