PhD position in Formal Semantics (1.0 FTE)

The Utrecht Institute of Linguistics (UiL OTS) invites applications for a PhD position in the area of formal semantics. This project will develop a theory of spatial and reciprocal expressions across languages. Starting from current theories of spatial meanings and reciprocal expressions (Zwarts & Winter 2000, Poortman et al. 2018, Winter 2018), the project will extensively compare meanings of these expressions in different languages. These data will be employed for developing a new formal semantic theory of spatial and reciprocal expressions across languages.

The project will be supervised by Dr. Joost Zwarts and Prof. Yoad Winter, in collaboration with Dr. Eva Poortman (UiL OTS) and Prof. James Hampton (Psychology, City, University of London). Work at the UiL OTS will be part of the ROCKY project, financed by an ERC Advanced grant to Prof. Yoad Winter.

Tasks

Tasks for the PhD candidate will include:

completion and defence of a PhD thesis within four years; regular presentation of intermediate research results at workshops and conferences; publication of peer-reviewed articles in established international journals or conference proceedings; help with organizational tasks connected to the project, such as the organization of conferences and workshops; participation in training programmes and expert meetings scheduled for the project; participation in selected training programmes scheduled for the Research Institute, Graduate School and the National Research School.

References
E.B. Poortman et al. 2018. Reciprocal expressions and the Maximal Typicality Hypothesis. Glossa, 3:18, 1-30.
Y. Winter 2018. Symmetric Predicates and the Semantics of Reciprocal Alternations. Semantics and Pragmatics, 11.
Zwarts, J. and Winter, Y., 2000. Vector space semantics: A model-theoretic analysis of locative prepositions. Journal of logic, language and information, 9(2), 169-211.