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David Adger

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David Adger
Born (1967-09-23) 23 September 1967 (age 57)
SpouseAnson W. Mackay
Academic background
Alma materUniversity of Edinburgh
ThesisFunctional heads and interpretation (1994)
Doctoral advisorElisabet Engdahl
Academic work
DisciplineLinguist
Sub-disciplineSyntax
InstitutionsQueen Mary University of London

David Adger FBA[1] (born 23 September 1967) is a Professor of Linguistics at Queen Mary University of London. Adger is interested in the human capacity for syntax. Adger served as president of the Linguistics Association of Great Britain from 2015 to 2020.[2]

Early life and education

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Adger was born on 23 September 1967 in Kirkcaldy, Fife, Scotland.[3] At the age of eleven Adger became fascinated by language, reading Ursula K. Le Guin's A Wizard of Earthsea.[4] At the age of sixteen, Adger won a school competition coordinated by the University of St Andrews and spent the money on copies of Noam Chomsky's Aspects of the Theory of Syntax.[4] He studied linguistics and artificial intelligence at the University of Edinburgh. Adger has described his undergraduate teaching as one of the "exhilarating experiences of my life".[4] He remained in Edinburgh for his graduate studies, working toward a master's in cognitive science. He completed a doctorate under the supervision of Elisabet Engdahl in 1994.[5] During his doctorate he visited the University of Massachusetts Amherst as a research student.[4] His doctoral research examined the syntax-semantics interface and how syntactic agreement relates to semantic specificity.[6]

Research and career

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Adger became a lecturer at the University of York in 1993.[7] In 2002 Adger moved to the Queen Mary University of London, where he had been appointed Reader in Linguistics.[3][7] He was appointed Professor of Linguistics in 2006.[3]

His research considers the science of language, and whether human brains create language because of our ability to recognise patterns or because of a specifically linguistic ability.[8] He has investigated the nature of grammatical structure and the relationship between sociolinguistic theories and syntactic structure.[9]

From 2006-9 Adger held a Leverhulme Major Research Fellowship investigating “The Grammar-Meaning Connection”.

In 2015, Adger was elected as the seventeenth president of the Linguistics Association of Great Britain.[10] He visited the University of Maryland, College Park in 2016, where he delivered a series of lectures discussing minimalist syntax, semantics and merge.[11]

From 2020-22 Adger held a Leverhulme Major Research Fellowship for his project "Simplifying and Restricting Syntax".[12]

In July 2020, Adger was a notable signee on a petition for the removal of Steven Pinker from the Linguistic Society of America’s honorary status as Fellow of the society.[13]

Selected publications

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Papers

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  • Adger, David; Harbour, Daniel (2007). "Syntax and Syncretisms of the Person Case Constraint". Syntax. 10: 2–37. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9612.2007.00095.x.
  • Adger, David; Ramchand, Gillian (16 March 2006). "Predication and Equation" (PDF). Linguistic Inquiry. 34 (3): 325–359. doi:10.1162/002438903322247515. S2CID 17029500.
  • Adger, David; Ramchand, Gillian (13 March 2006). "Merge and Move: Wh-Dependencies Revisited". Linguistic Inquiry. 36 (2): 161–193. doi:10.1162/0024389053710729. S2CID 30519402.

Books

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From 2007 to 2013 Adger served as editor of Syntax.[14][15]

Personal life

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Adger is married to Anson W. Mackay, a geographer at University College London. He is a member of 500 Queer Scientists, an organisation that champions LGBT scientists and engineers.[16] Adger was listed as one Queen Mary University of London LGBT role models in 2018.[7]

References

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  1. ^ "Professor David Adger FBA". The British Academy. Retrieved 15 February 2024.
  2. ^ "Professor David Adger elected President of the LAGB - School of Languages, Linguistics and Film". www.qmul.ac.uk. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
  3. ^ a b c "Adger, Prof. David James, (born 23 Sept. 1967), Professor of Linguistics, Queen Mary University of London, since 2006". Who's Who 2022. Oxford University Press. 1 December 2021. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  4. ^ a b c d "Featured Linguist: David Adger – The LINGUIST List". Archived from the original on 16 April 2016. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
  5. ^ Adger, David; Engdahl, Elisabet; University of Edinburgh (1994). Functional heads and interpretation. hdl:1842/527. OCLC 827260851.
  6. ^ Adger, David (1994). Functional Heads and Interpretation. Edinburgh: PhD thesis, University of Edinburgh.
  7. ^ a b c "Diversity and Inclusion: Role Model Profile" (PDF). QMUL. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 November 2018. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
  8. ^ Krämer, Katrina; Denny, Jane; Durrani2019-11-14T09:28:00 00:00, Jamie. "Book Club – Language Unlimited by David Adger". Chemistry World. Retrieved 27 February 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  9. ^ "David Adger - Authors". Inference: International Review of Science. Retrieved 27 February 2020.Archived 2020-04-25 at the Wayback Machine
  10. ^ Smith, Jane. "Professor David Adger elected President of the LAGB - School of Languages, Linguistics and Film". www.qmul.ac.uk. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
  11. ^ "David Adger · Baggett Lectures". Linguistics at Maryland. Retrieved 26 February 2020.Archived 2015-12-23 at the Wayback Machine
  12. ^ "David Adger awarded Leverhulme Fellowship". Queen Mary, University of London: School of Languages, Linguistics and Film. 11 December 2019.
  13. ^ "Open Letter to the LSA". Google Docs. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  14. ^ "Overview - Syntax". Wiley Online Library. doi:10.1111/(ISSN)1467-9612. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
  15. ^ "Brief Bio". David Adger. 16 February 2020. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
  16. ^ "Fullscreen Page". 500 Queer Scientists. Archived from the original on 26 February 2020. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
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