About my work
I am a syntactician with a primary focus on crosslinguistic variation, particulary with respect to noun phrases, and the interface of syntax with semantics and phonology. In the syntax-semantics interface, I'm particularly interested in definiteness, quantification, and relative clauses. My work on the syntax-phonology interface examines how theories of morpho-syntactic structures can inform our understanding of domains in which phonological processes apply. I teach courses on syntax, semantics, typology, and fieldwork.
My work focuses on languages of East and Southeast Asia and Subsaharan Africa. (I like working on languages with tone!) I have an enduring interest in Thai, which I grew up speaking as a second language and which was the topic of my dissertation.
I have also worked for several years on Moro, an endangered Kordofanian language spoken in the Nuba Mountains of Sudan. I co-developed the Moro Story Corpus; a descriptive grammar of Moro is to appear with Language Sciences Press, coauthored with Sharon Rose and our Moro colleagues.
Publications
To appear
- Peter Jenks. Hyperraising from TP in Moro. In Syntax in uncharted territories: Essays in honor of Maria Polinsky. L. Clemens, V. Gribanova, and G. Scontras (eds.)
- Justin Royer, Cristina Buenrostro, and Peter Jenks. The syntax of quantification and focus in Chuj. Canadian Journal of Linguistics.
- Badiba Olivier Agodio, Peter Jenks, Hannah Sande, and Malte Zimmermann. Indexed definiteness without demonstratives in Guébie. In Proceedings of Triple A 10.
- Peter Jenks. The comparative syntax of nominal quantifiers. In The Cambridge Handbook of Comparative Syntax. S. Barbiers, N. Corver, and M. Polinsky (eds.) Cambridge UP. (pre-publication copy)
- Peter Jenks, Elyasir Julima, Angelo Nasir, and Sharon Rose. A Grammar of Moro: Thetogovela dialect.Berlin: Language Sciences Press. 723pp.
2023
- Dawson, Virginia and Peter Jenks. 2023. Describing definites and indefinites. In Key topics in language description and documentation, Ed. Peter Jenks and Lev Michael.
- Peter Jenks and Lev Michael (Eds.) 2023. Five Key Topics in Language Documentation and Description. Special Issue 26 of Language Documentation & Conservation. Hawai'i University Press.
2022
- Li Julie Jiang, Peter Jenks, and Jing Jin. 2022. The syntax of classifiers in Mandarin Chinese. In The Cambridge Handbook of Chinese Linguistics, Chu-Ren Huang, Yen-Hwei Lin, I-Hsuan Chen, and Yu-Yin Hsu (eds.) 515-549. Cambridge, UK. (pre-print)
- Jenks, Peter and Rassidatou Konate. 2022. Indexed definiteness. Glossa: a journal of general linguistics 7(1). doi: https://doi.org/10.16995/glossa.571
2021
- Khanin Chaiphet and Peter Jenks. 2021. Names as complex indices: On apparent Condition C violations in Thai. In Proceedings of NELS 51.
2020
- Sande, Hannah, Peter Jenks, and Sharon Inkelas. 2020. Cophonologies by ph(r)ase. Natural Language and Linguistic Theory 39, 1211–1261.
- Jenks, Peter. 2020. Verbal and verbless copular clauses in Moro. 2020. Faits du Langue 51, 117-139
2019
- Bi, Ruyue and Peter Jenks. 2019. Pronouns, null arguments, and ellipsis in Mandarin Chinese. Proceedings of Sinn und Bedeutung 23, vol. 1, pp. 127–142. Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra (Cerdanyola del Vallès).
- Hyman, Larry M, Nicholas Rolle, Hannah Sande, Emily Clem, Peter SE Jenks, Florian Lionnet, J Merrill, N Baier. 2019. Niger-congo linguistic features and typology. In The Cambridge Handbook of African Linguistics, H. Ekkehard Wolff, pp. 191-245. Cambridge University Press.
2018
- Articulated definiteness without articles. Linguistic Inquiry 49.3, 501–536.
- Cophonologies by phase. (with Hannah Sande) In Proceedings of NELS 48, Sherry Hucklebridge, Max Nelson (Eds.), 39-52. UMass, Amherst GSLA.
- On the lexical semantics of property concept nouns in Basaá. (with Andrew Koontz-Garboden and Emmanuel-Moselly Makasso). In Proceedings of Sinn und Bedeutung 21, Robert Truswell, Chris Cummins, Caroline Heycock, Brian Rabern, and Hannah Rohde (Eds.). 643-660. University of Edinburgh.
2017
- Dependent accusative case and caselessness in Moro. (with Hannah Sande (1st author)) Proceedings of NELS 47, UMass, Amherst.
- Documenting Raising and Control in Moro. (with Sharon Rose). In Africa's Endangered Languages: Documentary and Theoretical Approaches. Jason Kandybowicz and Harold Torrence (Eds.). 207-236 Oxford University Press.
- Accessibility and demonstrative operators in Basaá relative clauses. (with Emmanuel-Moselly Makasso and Larry Hyman). In Relative Clauses in Cameroonian Languages. Gratien Gualbet Antindogbe and Rebecca Grollemund (Eds.). 17-46. De Gruyter Mouton.
2016
- Moro Story Corpus. (with Angelo Naser, Hannah Sande, Marcus Ewert, Juwon Kim, and Maytas Monsereenusorn). UC Berkeley. (slides describing project here)
- Clefts and anti-superiority in Moken. (with Kenny Baclawski). Journal of the Southeast Asian Linguistic Society 9, 81-96.
2015
- Two kinds of definites in numeral classifier langauges. Proceedings of SALT 25, 103-124.
- Mobile object markers in Moro: The role of tone. (with Sharon Rose). Language 91.2, 269-307.
2014
- Generalized clausal modifiers in Thai noun phrases. Syntax 17.4, 299-342.
- In-situ and ex-situ wh-question constructions in Moro. (with Sharon Rose, Farrell Ackerman, George Gibbard, Laura Kertz, and Hannah Rohde). Journal of African Languages and Linguistics 35.1, 91-125.
- Kra-Dai Languages. (with Pittayawat Pittayaporn). Oxford Bibliographies, in “Linguistics.” Ed. Mark Aranoff. New York: Oxford University Press.
2013
- Quantifier float, focus, and scope in Thai. Proceedings of BLS 39., 90-107.
- Head movement in Moro DPs: Evidence for a unified theory of movement. Proceedings of WCCFL 31, ed. Robert E. Santana-LaBarge, 248-257. Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Proceedings Project.
- Nominal modification in Chinese and Thai. (with Shi-Zhe Huang) Proceedings of WCCFL 31, ed. Robert E. Santana-LaBarge, 227-237. Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Proceedings Project.
- Adjectives as nominal heads in Basaá. (with Larry Hyman and Emmanuel-Moselly Makasso) Selected proceedings of ACAL 43. O. O. Orie and K. W. Sanders (Eds). Somerville: Cascadilla Press.
- Noun phrases in Moro. In Nuba Mountain Language Studies, T. Schadeberg and R. Blench, Eds. Berlin: Rüdiger Koppe Verlag, 57-82.
2012
- Definite spans and blocking in classifier languages. UC Berkeley ms.
- Three ways to modify classifiers in Thai. Presentation at LSA2012, Portland, OR.
2011
- High tone in Moro: Effects of prosodic categories and morphological domains. (with Sharon Rose) Natural Language and Linguistic Theory 29, 211-250.
- The hidden structure of Thai noun phrases. PhD Dissertation, Harvard University.
2010
- Evidence for the syntactic diversity of numeral classifiers. LSA Annual Meeting Extended Abstracts. LSA 84, Baltimore, MD.
2009
- Syllable weight and high tone in Moro. (with Sharon Rose) In Proceedings of CLS 45, Volume I, R. Bochnak, N. Nicola, P. Klecha, J. Urban, A. Lemieux and C. Weaver (Eds.), 271-285. Chicago: CLS.
Teaching
2023-2024
- Fall 2023 - Ling 200: First year proseminar for linguistics graduate students (syllabus)
- Fall 2023 - Ling 220A: Advanced Syntax I (Fall 2023) (syllabus)
- Spring 2024 - Ling 120: Syntax (syllabus)
In Spring 2023 I was very honored to receive the UC Berkeley Distinguished Teacher award. See the video here.
2022-2023
- Fall 2022 - 100: Introduction to Linguistic Science
- Fall 2022 - 201: Third year graduate research proseminar
- Spring 2023 - 140: Field methods (syllabus)
- 215: Advanced Morphology (Spring 2022) (with Hannah Sande!) (syllabus)
2021-2022
- Fall 2021 - Ling 100: Introduction to Linguistic Science
- Spring 2022 - 220B: Advanced Syntax II: The A/A'-Distinction (syllabus)
Advising
I have had the good fortune to work with the following students, whose interests, like mind, tend to center on generative syntax and theoretically-informed fieldwork. Students with research interests in these areas, particularly those investigating formal syntax, the syntax-semantics interface, morphology, or the syntax-phonology interface, with strong training in these areas and a clear research trajectory are encouraged to contact me to inquire about our PhD program.
Current PhD students
Dissertation committees ((co-)chaired)
- 2024 Wesley dos Santos (co-chaired with Lev Michael)
- 2023 Tessa Scott, Pronouns and agreement in San Juan Atitán Mam (co-chaired with Amy Rose Deal)
- 2019 Kenny Baclawski, Jr., Discourse connectedness
- 2018 Nico Baier, Anti-Agreement
Dissertation committees (as committee member)
- 2023 Madeline Bossi, Epistemic modality across syntactic catergories in Kipsigis
- 2023 Emily Drummond, Clause structure and ergativity in Nukuoro
- 2020 Virginia Dawson, Existential quantification in Tiwa: disjunction and indefinites
- 2019 Emily Clem, Agreement, case, and switch-reference in Amahuaca
- 2018 Nik Rolle, Grammatical tone: Typology and theory
- 2017 Hannah Sande, Distributing morphologically conditioned phonology: Three case studies from Guébie
- 2016. Christine Sheil, Scottish Gaelic Clefts: Syntax, Semantics and Pragmatics
- 2015. I-Hsuan Chen, The Diachronic Development and Synchronic Distribution of Mimimizers in Mandarin
- 2015. Jessica Cleary-Kemp, Serial Verb Constructions Revisited: A Case Study from Koro
- 2015. Stephanie Farmer, Establishing reference in Máíhĩkì