Department of English-Polish Comparative Linguistics

🌍 version in Polish (wersja w języku polskim)

The Department conducts theoretical and comparative research in English and Polish syntax and morphology. It is also a center of work in generative linguistics. Comparative analyses, which often involve also other Germanic and Slavic languages, are conducted within, but not limited to, the Minimalist Program.

Past projects have included the work on the Theory of Control (Jacek Witkoś, Piotr Cegłowski, Sylwiusz Żychliński), extractions from noun phrases (Piotr Cegłowski, Bartosz Wiland), Focus in the minimalist architecture (Przemysław Tajsner), the syntax of nominal projections and numerals (Jacek Witkoś, Piotr Cegłowski, Paulina Łęska-Bayraktar), nanosyntax and verbal prefixes (Bartosz Wiland), DP structure and concord (Dominika Dziubała-Szrejbrowska), dative objects in Polish and English (Jacek Witkoś, Paulina Łęska-Bayraktar) and nanosyntax of verbs and complementizers (Bartosz Wiland). The Department members have been most recently working on the NCN grant OPUS 11 (2016/2/B/HS2/00619) "The Nanosyntax of Complementizers" and a Beethoven grant (jointly with the Humboldt University in Berlin).

Right now we are preoccupied with the syntax of pronouns: how Polish weak pronouns form clusters (Paulina Łęska-Bayraktar, Jacek Witkoś), how they fare in cataphoric relations (Paulina Łęska-Bayraktar, Jacek Witkoś) and how interchangeable are the possessive reflexives with possessive pronouns (Sylwiusz Żychliński). On the latter note, we also explore the boundary between the acceptable although seemingly ungrammatical. Bartosz Wiland conducts research on relative clauses and Nanosyntax (adjectives, verbs and prefixes).

Courses taught by the faculty and graduate students of the Department include seminars on syntactic theory, foundations and historical development of Generative Grammar, Nanosyntax, research methodology in linguistics, as well as introductory courses to English syntax and morphology.