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. 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 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, and I am currently collaborating on a descriptive grammar of Moro together with Sharon Rose and our Moro colleagues.
Publications
To appear
- Jenks, Peter and Rassidatou Konate. To appear. Indexed definiteness. Glossa
- Dawson, Virginia and Peter Jenks. To appear. Describing definiteness and indefiniteness. In Key topics in language description and documentation, Ed. Peter Jenks and Lev Michael.
- Jiang, Li Julie Jiang, Peter Jenks, and Jing Jin. 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.). Cambridge University Press.
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
updates coming!
2017-2018
- 100: Introduction to Linguistic Science
- 120: Syntax
- 222: Advanced Linguistic Typology
2017-2018
- 100: Introduction to Linguistic Science
- 120: Syntax
- 222: Advanced Linguistic Typology
2017-2018
- 220A: Syntax and Semantics I
- 100: Introduction to Linguistic Science
2016-2017
- 220A: Syntax and Semantics I (syllabus)
- 290A: Relative Clauses (Seminar) (syllabus)
- 120: Introduction to Syntax and Semantics (syllabus)
2015-2016
- 220B: Syntax and Semantics II (syllabus)
- 140: Field Methods
In this class we studied Dafing, a Mande language of Burkina Faso.
2014-2015
- 220A: Syntax and Semantics I
- 290A: Heads (Seminar)
- 222: Linguistic Typology (co-taught with Lev Michael)
2012-2013
- 220A: Syntax and Semantics I
- 120: Introduction to Syntax and Semantics
- 240A/B: Advanced Field Methods
In this class we studied Seereer, an Atlantic language of Senegal. We used a wiki format in this class to aggregate our data and consolidate our findings (click to see).
Advising
I have primarily worked with students who pursuing research programs focused on theoretical syntax, morphology, and semantics. I enjoy working with students who are fieldwork-oriented and combine novel description with theoretical analysis, and students who are interested in looking at typological patterns and trends from a theoretical perspective, both historical strengths of the UC Berkeley linguistics department.
Current students (as advisor)
Dissertations (chaired)
- 2019 Kenny Baclawski, Jr., Discourse connectedness
- 2018 Nico Baier, , Anti-Agreement
Dissertation committees (member)
2018
2017
2016
- Christine Sheil, Scottish Gaelic Clefts: Syntax, Semantics and Pragmatics
2015
- I-Hsuan Chen, The Diachronic Development and Synchronic Distribution of Mimimizers in Mandarin Chinese
- Jessica Cleary-Kemp, Serial Verb Constructions Revisited: A Case Study from Koro
- Stephanie Farmer, Establishing reference in Máíhĩkì