Staff Profile
I joined SELLL in January 2021 as a Lecturer in Linguistics. My research is in syntax and semantics and their interface, and codeswitching with a special focus on complex predicates (e.g. light verb constructions) of the understudied South Asian language Pahari-Pothwari. I'm interested in how existing theories of syntax and semantics can incorporate and account for the status of nominal coverbs in light verb constructions as they can behave morphosyntactically as an object of a light verb whilst also contributing to the meaning of the verbal predicate. I am also interested in codemixed light verb constructions in intransentential codeswitching discourse of Pahari-Pothwari/English bilinguals. Specifically, I am interested in the following question: what are the morphosyntactic constraints of codemixed complex predicates in bilingual English-Pahari/Pothwari speech?
Before joining SELLL, I was a Lecturer in Speech Science at Leeds Beckett University and a Lecturer in Linguistics at University of Manchester. I completed my BA in English language (2009), followed by an MA in linguistics (2010) and a PhD in linguistics (2015) at the University of Manchester.
Research Interests
- Syntax, semantics, and their interface
- Pahari-Pothwari linguistics
- Complex predicates
- Codeswitching
- South Asian languages
- Language description and documentation
Publications
Academic chapters/articles in preparation:
Nazir, F. Kersti Börjars, Rachel Nordlinger and Louisa Sadler ‘Lexical Functional Grammar:An Introduction’. Book Reviews. Intended location & data: Lexis (online) (2021).
Nazir, F. Introducing Tense and Aspect in Pahari-Pothwari. In Hussain, S. (ed). Azad Kashmiris in Britain: Society, Politics and Language. (2022)
Nazir, F. Syntactic and Semantic Properties of Light Verb Constructions in Pahari-Pothwari. Intended location and date: Journal of South Asian Linguistics (2022)
Non-Academic Articles:
Nazir, F. (2020). Language Homes: Pahari and English. EAL Journal Blog (online).
Nazir, F. (2020). We Codeswitch Like Riz Ahmed. Creative Multilingualism (online).
Nazir, F. (2020). The Art of Common Talk in British South Asian Diaspora. Creative Multilingualism (online).
Nazir, F. (2020). What is the name of my language? Pahari, Pothwari, A dialect of Punjabi, Mirpuri?. Creative Multilingualism (online).
Nazir, F. (2020). A Linguistic Analysis of 'chura liya hai tumne jo dilko’. Hikaayat Magazine (online).
Nazir, F. (2020). Chai Shai? Reduplication: A Verbal Art. Hikaayat Magazine (online).