Prof. Jesus Olguin-Martinez, University of Hong Kong Linguistics Department

D-CCCA: A database for syntactic typological research

Syntactic typological databases have received a great deal of attention recently (e.g., The World Atlas of Language Structures online; Grambank; Atlas of Pidgin and Creole Language Structures online). These databases have contributed to our theoretical understanding of syntactic variation in typological perspective. However, much more work remains to be done. In particular, no syntactic typological database has focused on documenting groups of constructions that share similar semantic and pragmatic characteristics, as the following:

(1) a. If you had gone, you would have seen her (standard counterfactual conditional)

b. She spoke as if she had been tired (pretence)

c. If not for her, I would have died (if not for NP)

d. It would have been good/bad if you had seen her (evaluative)

e. If I were you, I would have left Afuze (proxy)

The present project aims at filling this gap by exploring constructional sets as in (1) in broad cross-linguistic perspective and documenting them in a database called D-CCCA, or the Database for Cross-Constructional Comparative Analysis. Constructional sets will be annotated for different morphosyntactic variables (e.g., tense-aspect-mood; type of clause-linkage pattern; order of clauses; word order), lexical variables (e.g., verb lemmas), and discourse-pragmatic variables. This will allow linguists to investigate how syntactic variables interact with other grammatical domains in language use and based on these variables to explore which members of a given constructional set resemble one another more frequently. This database will enable researchers to uncover new criteria for classification and a testing ground for universal functional constraints. Moreover, it will provide a more holistic framework for typological analysis that can lead us to uncover links between language, social organization, and cognition.

What are we looking for?

1. A database designer with strong proficiency in coding and data modeling.

2. A native speaker of Korean. The candidate will extract Korean data from corpora and annotate the data for different linguistic variables.

3. A native speaker of Japanese. The candidate will extract Japanese data from corpora and annotate the data for different linguistic variables.

4. A native speaker of Mandarin. The candidate will extract Mandarin data from corpora and annotate the data for different linguistic variables.

5. A native speaker of English. The candidate will extract English data from corpora and annotate the data for different linguistic variables.

6. A native speaker of Spanish. The candidate will extract Spanish data from corpora and annotate the data for different linguistic variables.

7. A native speaker of Hindi. The candidate will extract Hindi data from corpora and annotate the data for different linguistic variables.

8. A native speaker of Italian. The candidate will extract Italian data from corpora and annotate the data for different linguistic variables.

9. A native speaker of Greek. The candidate will extract Greek data from corpora and annotate the data for different linguistic variables.

10. A native speaker of Persian. The candidate will extract Persian data from corpora and annotate the data for different linguistic variables.

11. A native speaker of German. The candidate will extract Germn data from corpora and annotate the data for different linguistic variables.

Requirements:

– HKU undergraduate students majoring in Linguistics, Neuroscience, Cognitive Science, Psychology, or Human Communication, Learning, and Development.

– Minimum GPA of 3.70 or higher.

– Responsible, careful, motivated, and outgoing.

What you’ll gain:

– Hourly pay following the set rate by HKU

– Research skills and experience in corpus-based and typological research

How to apply: Interested candidates should send their CV to Prof. Jesus Olguin-Martinez olguin@hku.hk. The CV should include the courses taken and cumulative GPA. Shortlisted candidates will be contacted for an interview.