Newcastle University

Research Interests

Syntactic theory; comparative syntax; Scandinavian languages; Finnish.

Other Expertise

Descriptive linguistics/linguistic fieldwork; language acquisition; language change.

Current Work

The syntax of answers to  polar questions: http://research.ncl.ac.uk/yesandno 

The mapping of structure onto linear order;
Null subjects/pro-drop;

Syntactic features of English dialects;

Publications by Prof. JA Holmberg

Newcastle University ePrint repository for Prof. JA Holmberg.

Future Research

The syntax of dialects in the British Isles.

Research Roles

Leverhulme Fellowship (2011-2013). Project: The syntax of yes and no

Editor of Finno-Ugric Languages and Linguistics (FULL) http://full.btk.ppke.hu/index.php/FULL/index 

Principal Investigator of the AHRC-funded project 'Structure and linear order in disharmonic word orders' (2007-2011)

Postgraduate Supervision

PhD students:
Mais Sulaiman: Wh-questions in Syrian Arabic
Mohammed Jlassi: The Multiple Subject Construction in Arabic: evidence from subject doubling in Tunisian Arabic

Malgorzata Krzek: The syntax of impersonal constructions in Polish

Patrick Chi-Wai Lee: Learning and unlearning object drop in L2 English

David Iorio: Syntax and information structure in Bembe

Hofa Meng Jung Wu: The syntax of questions and answers in Chinese 

Sameera Saeed: Prepositions in Kurdish, Arabic and English

Claire Childs: Negation in English dialects 

Khaled Kakhia: Description of a Turkish dialect in Syria 

Esteem Indicators

Member of the panel for Linguistics in the RAE 2008.

Funding

• Leverhulme Fellowship (2011-2013). Project: On the syntax of yes and no.
• Project funded by the AHRC, from Oct 2007 to Sept 2010: 'Structure and linearization in disharmonic word orders'. Joint project with Cambridge, with Ian Roberts as co-investigator, Theresa Biberauer and Michelle Sheehan as Researchers. 
• Leverhulme Visiting Professorship for Abdelkader Fassi Fehri to spend 10 months in Newcastle in 2007-2008.
• Project funded by the AHRC (2002-2007): 'Null subjects and the structure of parametric theory.' Joint project with Newcastle and Cambridge.

• Holmberg A. The syntax of answers to polar questions in English and Swedish. Lingua 2013, 128, 31-50.
• Holmberg A, Roberts I. The syntax-morphology relation. Lingua 2013, (epub ahead of print).
• Holmberg A. Verb Second. In: Kiss, T., Alexiadou, A, ed. Syntax – an International Handbook of Contemporary Syntactic Research. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter Verlag, 2013. In Press.
• Haddican W, Holmberg A. Object movement symmetries in British English dialects: Experimental evidence for a mixed case/locality approach. Journal of Comparative Germanic Linguistics 2012, 15(3), 189-212.
• Biberauer T, Holmberg A, Roberts I. A syntactic universal and its consequences. To appear in Linguistic Inquiry 2013. Submitted.
• Buchstaller I, Corrigan KP, Holmberg A, Honeybone P, Maguire W. T-to-R and the Northern Subject Rule: questionnaire-based spatial, social and structural linguistics . English Language and Linguistics 2013, 17(1), 85-128.
• Holmberg A. The syntax of the Finnish question particle. In: Svenonius, P, ed. Functional Structure from Top to Toe. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013. In Press.
• Holmberg A. Null subject parameters. In: Biberauer T; Holmberg A; Roberts I; Sheehan M, ed. Parametric variation : null subjects in minimalist theory. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010, pp.88-124.
• Holmberg A. The null generic subject pronoun in Finnish: a case of incorporation in T. In: Biberauer T; Holmberg A; Roberts I; Sheehan M, ed. Parametric variation : null subjects in minimalist theory. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010, pp.200-230.
• Holmberg A, Sheehan ML. Control Into Finite Clauses in Partial Null-Subject Languages. In: Biberauer T; Holmberg A; Roberts I; Sheehan M, ed. Parametric Variation: Null Subjects in Minimalist Theory. Cambridge: Cambidge University Press, 2010, pp.125-152.
• Holmberg A. Parameters in minimalist theory: The case of Scandinavian. Theoretical Linguistics 2010, 36(1), 1-48.
• Holmberg A. How to refer to yourself when talking to yourself. Newcastle upon Tyne: Centre for Research in Linguistics and Language Sciences (CRiLLS), Newcastle Universty, 2010. Newcastle Working Papers in Linguistics v.16.
• Holmberg A, Nayudu A, Sheehan M. Three partial null-subject languages: a comparison of Brazilian Portuguese, Finnish, and Marathi. Studia Linguistica 2009, 63(1), 59-97.
• Holmberg A. V-movement in affirmative replies and copy deletion. Theoretical Linguistics 2009, 35(2-3), 269-276.
• Sigurdsson HA, Holmberg A. Icelandic dative intervention: person and number are separate probes. In: d'Alessandro, R; Hrafnbjargarson, GH; Fischer, S, ed. Agreement Restrictions. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, 2008, pp.251-280.
• Holmberg A, Nikanne U. Subject doubling in Finnish: the role of deficient pronouns. In: Barbiers, S; Koeneman, O; Lekakou, M, ed. Microvariations in Syntactic Doubling. Bingley: Emerald, 2008, pp.325-349.
• Holmberg A, Odden D. The noun phrase in Hawrami. In: S. Karimi, S.V. Samiian, and D. Stilo, ed. Aspects of Iranian Linguistics. Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2008, pp.129-152.
• Holmberg A. Null subjects and polarity focus. Studia Linguistica 2007, 61(3), 212-236.
• Biberauer T, Holmberg A, Roberts I. Structure and linearization in disharmonic word orders. In: Proceedings of the 26th West Coast Conference on Formal Linguistics. 2007, University of California, Berkeley: Cascadilla Proceedings Project.
• Holmberg A. Is there a little pro? Evidence from finnish. Linguistic Inquiry 2005, 36(4), 533-564.
• Holmberg A. Linearization in two ways. Theoretical Linguistics 2005, 31(1-2), 147-157.
• Roberts I, Holmberg A. On the role of parameters in universal grammar: a reply to Newmeyer. In: Broekhuis, H; Corver, N; Huybregts, R; Kleinhenz, U; Koster, J, ed. Organizing Grammar: Linguistic Studies in Honor of Henk Van Riemsdijk. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, 2005, pp.538-553.
• Holmberg A. Stylistic Fronting. In: Everaert, M; van Riemsdijk, H; Goedemans, R; Hollebrandse, B, ed. The Blackwell Companion to Syntax. Oxford: Blackwell, 2005, pp.530-563.
• Holmberg A, Platzack C. The Scandinavian Languages. In: Cinque, G; Kayne, RS, ed. The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Syntax. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005, pp.420-458.
• Holmberg A, Hróarsdóttir T. Agreement and movement in Icelandic raising constructions. Lingua 2004, 113(10), 997-1019.
• Holmberg A, Odden D. The Izafe and NP Structure in Hawrami. Durham Working Papers in Linguistics 2004, 10, 77-93.
• Holmberg A. Topic drop or VP focus. In: Delsing, L-O; Falk, C; Josefsson, G; Sigurðsson, HA, ed. Grammar in Focus. Festschrift for Christer Platzack 18 November 2003. Lund: Department of Scandinavian Languages, Lund University, 2003, pp.159-166.
• Holmberg A. Yes/no questions and the relation between tense and polarity in English. In: Pica, P, ed. Linguistic Variation Yearbook. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 2003, pp.43-68.
• Holmberg A. Prepositions and PPs in Zina Kotoko. In: Schmidt, BK; Odden, D; Holmberg, A, ed. Some Aspects of the Grammar of Zina Kotoko. Muenchen: Lincom Europa, 2002, pp.162-174.
• Holmberg A, Nikanne U. Expletives, Subjects, and Topics in Finnish. In: Svenonius, P, ed. Subjects, Expletives, and the EPP. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002, pp.71-105.