kacxx001@umn.edu

812 Heller
612-625-1865

My main interest is in the syntax and semantics of natural language, and their interaction. My most recent publication on this subject presents a theory of singular terms that reconciles grammatical and logical form while avoiding the ontological pitfalls that motivate Russell's theory.

A related interest is the philosophical foundations of linguistics, in regard to both the content and the methodology of the discipline. I'm an opponent of the view that the central questions about the nature of language are essentially psychological ones as opposed to being about an abstract structure that not only can but must be studied independently of its psychological embodiment(s).

Selected Publications

"The Semantics and Pragmatics of Appearance", Language 79.189-196 (2003).

"The Proper Treatment of Singular Terms in Ordinary English." Mind 106 (1997).

"A Nonpsychological Realist Conception of Linguistic Rules." In The Reality of Linguistic Rules, eds. R. Corrigan, G. Iverson, and Susan Lima. John Benjamins Publishing Co., 1994.

"What Is Categorical Grammar Really Good For?" In Principles and Predication: The Analysis of Natural Language, eds. M. Eid and G. Iverson. John Benjamins Publishing Co., 1993.

Grammars and Grammaticality. John Benjamins Publishing Co., 1992.

"A Simplified Theory of Boolean Semantic Types." Journal of Semantics 9 (1992).

"Theoretical Implications of Disordered Syntactic Processing." With T.C. Rindflesch and J.E. Reeves. Language Sciences 14 (1992).

Corepresentation of Grammatical Structure. University of Minnesota Press and Croom Helm, Ltd., 1978.