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Staff Profile

Emeritus Professor Anders Holmberg

Emeritus Professor, FBA, MAE

  • Personal Website:
Background

I got my PhD degree at Stockholm University in 1987. Since then I've held positions at Uppsala and Umeå in Sweden, Tromsø in Norway, and Durham in the UK. In 2004 I became Professor of Theoretical Linguistics at Â鶹´«Ã½. In January 2021 I retired, becoming Emeritus Professor. Also in 2021 I became Fellow of the British Academy, and in 2022 of Academia Europaea. My early work was mainly on verb second, object shift, and various issues to do with word order and inflections in the Scandinavian languages. A bit later I took up work on Finnish. I have written about word order, topic-focus syntax, null subjects and elliptical answers in Finnish, among other things. Being from Finland I'm bilingual in Swedish and Finnish. I have worked on various other languages, too. My main interest is comparative syntax. The overarching aim is to find out more about the nature of human language, particularly syntax, by comparing languages to study what they have in common and how they vary. Since 2002 I have collaborated closely with Ian Roberts and colleagues at the University of Cambridge, which has resulted in a number of co-authored works on syntactic cross-linguistic variation in a minimalist framework, including two books. Another recent work is a book on the syntax of answers to yes-no questions in a cross-linguistic, comparative perspective. I have supervised and co-supervised 35 students to a PhD degree. As Emeritus Professor I continue my research on a variety of issues, some together with previous students of mine, some with other colleagues. I'm also editor of Journal of Uralic Linguistics (together with Balázs Surányi), a journal that started 2022. It incorporates the online journal Finno-Ugric Languages and Linguistics that I've been editor for since it started in 2012.


03/12

Research

Research Interests

Syntactic theory; comparative syntax; Scandinavian languages; Finnish.

Other Expertise

Descriptive linguistics/linguistic fieldwork; language acquisition; language change.

Current Work

Fenno-Swedish syntax

Verb second in Estonian

Word syntax, compounds

Discourse particles

The syntax of questions and answers


 

Publications by Prof. JA Holmberg

Â鶹´«Ã½ ePrint repository for .

 

Research Roles

Editor of Finno-Ugric Languages and Linguistics (FULL)



Funding

  • European Research Council Advanced Grant 'Rethinking Comparative Syntax' (PI Ian Roberts, U. of Cambridge) (2013-2018).

  • Leverhulme Fellowship (2011-2013). Project: On the syntax of yes and no.

  • Project funded by the AHRC, 2007-2010: 'Structure and linearization in disharmonic word orders'. Joint project with Cambridge, with Ian Roberts as co-investigator, Theresa Biberauer and Michelle Sheehan as Researchers. 

  • Leverhulme Visiting Professorship for Abdelkader Fassi Fehri to spend 10 months in Â鶹´«Ã½ in 2007-2008.

  • Project funded by the AHRC, 2002-2007: 'Null subjects and the structure of parametric theory.' Joint project with Â鶹´«Ã½ and Cambridge.

 

Publications

  • Articles

    • Holmberg A, Sahkai H, Tamm A. . Journal of Uralic Linguistics 2025, 4(2), 217-268.
    • Wang Q, Holmberg A. . Journal of East Asian Linguistics 2023, 32, 201-244.
    • Wang Q, Holmberg A. . Natural Language and Linguistic Theory 2021, 39, 923-958.
    • Holmberg A, Sheehan M, van der Wal J. . Linguistic Inquiry 2019, 50(4), 677-722.
    • Haddican W, Holmberg A. . Natural Language and Linguistic Theory 2018, 37(1), 91-122.
    • Holmberg A, Phimsawat O. . Â鶹´«Ã½ and Northumbria Working Papers in Linguistics (Second Asian and European Linguistics Conference Proceedings) 2015, 21.1.
    • Haddican W, Holmberg A, Tanaka H, Tsoulas G. . Lingua 2014, 138, 86-106.
    • Biberauer T, Holmberg A, Roberts I. . Linguistic Inquiry 2014, 45(2), 169-225.
    • Buchstaller I, Corrigan KP, Holmberg A, Honeybone P, Maguire W. . English Language and Linguistics 2013, 17(1), 85-128.
    • Holmberg A, Roberts I. . Lingua 2013, 130, 111-131.
    • Holmberg A. . Lingua 2013, 128, 31-50.
    • Haddican W, Holmberg A. . Journal of Comparative Germanic Linguistics 2012, 15(3), 189-212.
    • Holmberg A. . Theoretical Linguistics 2010, 36(1), 1-48.
    • Holmberg A. . Theoretical Linguistics 2009, 35(2-3), 269-276.
    • Holmberg A, Nayudu A, Sheehan M. . Studia Linguistica 2009, 63(1), 59-97.
    • Holmberg, AndersNayudu, AartiSheehan, Michelle. . Studia Linguistica: special edition on partial pro-drop 2009.
    • Holmberg A. . Studia Linguistica 2007, 61(3), 212-236.
    • Holmberg A. . Theoretical Linguistics 2005, 31(1-2), 147-157.
    • Holmberg A. . Linguistic Inquiry 2005, 36(4), 533-564.
    • Holmberg A, Odden D. . Durham Working Papers in Linguistics 2004, 10, 77-93.
    • Holmberg A, Hróarsdóttir T. . Lingua 2004, 113(10), 997-1019.
    • Holmberg A. . Studia Linguistica 2001, 55(2), 141-175.
    • Holmberg A. . Journal of Comparative Germanic Linguistics 2001, 4(2), 85-128.
    • Holmberg A. . Natural Language and Linguistic Theory 2001, 18(4), 837-842.

  • Authored Books

    • Holmberg A. . Oxford University Press, 2016.
    • Biberauer T, Holmberg A, Roberts I, Sheehan M. . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010.
    • Vangsnes Ø, Holmberg A, Delsing L-O. . Oslo: Novus Press, 2003.

  • Book Chapters

    • Holmberg A. . In: De Clercq K; Haegeman L; Lohndal T; Meklenborg C, ed. Adverbial Resumption in Verb Second Languages. New York: Oxford University Press, 2023, pp.287-311.
    • Holmberg A. . In: Woods R; WolfeS, ed. Rethinking verb second. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2020, pp.40-60.
    • Holmberg A, Kurki K. . In: Christensen KR; Jørgensen H; Wood JL, ed. The sign of the V. papers in honour of Sten Vikner. Aarhus: Aarhus University Press, 2019, pp.243-266.
    • Holmberg A. . In: Ledgeway,A; Roberts,I, ed. The Cambridge Handbook of Historical Syntax. Cambridge, UK: Cambrdige University Press, 2017, pp.275-300.
    • Holmberg A. . In: Sheehan,M;Biberauer,T;Roberts,I;Holmberg,A, ed. The Final-over-Final Condition. A syntactic universal. Cambridge, MA, USA: MIT Press, 2017.
    • Holmberg A. . In: Sheehan M; Biberauer T; Roberts I; Holmberg A, ed. The Final-over-Final Condition: A Syntactic Universal. Cambridge, MA, USA: MIT Press, 2017, pp.43-78.
    • Holmberg A. . In: Ian Roberts, ed. The Oxford Handbook of Universal Grammar. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2017, pp.355-376.
    • Biberauer T, Holmberg A, Roberts I, Sheehan M. . In: Sheehan,M; Biberauer,T; Roberts,I; Holmberg,A, ed. The Final-over-Final Condition. A syntactic universal. Cambridge, MA, USA: MIT Press, 2017.
    • Holmberg A. . In: Svenonius, P, ed. Functional Structure from Top to Toe. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2014.
    • Holmberg A, Roberts I. . In: Picallo, M.C, ed. Linguistic variation in the minimalist framework. Oxford University Press, 2014, pp.61-81.
    • Holmberg A. . In: Kiss, T., Alexiadou, A, ed. Syntax – an International Handbook of Contemporary Syntactic Research. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter Verlag, 2013. In Press.
    • Buchstaller I, Corrigan KP, Holmberg A. Introspective judgments and sociolinguistic interviews as testing instruments for revealing syntactic microvariation. In: Parrot, J, ed. Theoretical Perspectives on Intra-Individual Variation and its Empirical Study. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: Benjamins, 2013, pp.submitted. Submitted.
    • Holmberg A. . In: Biberauer T; Holmberg A; Roberts I; Sheehan M, ed. Parametric variation : null subjects in minimalist theory. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010, pp.200-230.
    • Holmberg A. . In: Biberauer T; Holmberg A; Roberts I; Sheehan M, ed. Parametric variation : null subjects in minimalist theory. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010, pp.88-124.
    • Holmberg A, Sheehan ML. . In: Biberauer T; Holmberg A; Roberts I; Sheehan M, ed. Parametric Variation: Null Subjects in Minimalist Theory. Cambridge: Cambidge University Press, 2010, pp.125-152.
    • Holmberg A, Odden D. . In: S. Karimi, S.V. Samiian, and D. Stilo, ed. Aspects of Iranian Linguistics. Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2008, pp.129-152.
    • Holmberg A, Nikanne U. . In: Barbiers, S; Koeneman, O; Lekakou, M, ed. Microvariations in Syntactic Doubling. Bingley: Emerald, 2008, pp.325-349.
    • Sigurdsson HA, Holmberg A. . In: d'Alessandro, R; Hrafnbjargarson, GH; Fischer, S, ed. Agreement Restrictions. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, 2008, pp.251-280.
    • Holmberg A, Platzack C. . In: Cinque, G; Kayne, RS, ed. The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Syntax. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005, pp.420-458.
    • Holmberg A. . In: Everaert, M; van Riemsdijk, H; Goedemans, R; Hollebrandse, B, ed. The Blackwell Companion to Syntax. Oxford: Blackwell, 2005, pp.530-563.
    • Roberts I, Holmberg A. . In: Broekhuis, H; Corver, N; Huybregts, R; Kleinhenz, U; Koster, J, ed. Organizing Grammar: Linguistic Studies in Honor of Henk Van Riemsdijk. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, 2005, pp.538-553.
    • Holmberg A. . In: Pica, P, ed. Linguistic Variation Yearbook. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 2003, pp.43-68.
    • Holmberg A. . In: Delsing, L-O; Falk, C; Josefsson, G; Sigurðsson, HA, ed. Grammar in Focus. Festschrift for Christer Platzack 18 November 2003. Lund: Department of Scandinavian Languages, Lund University, 2003, pp.159-166.
    • Holmberg A. . In: Schmidt, BK; Odden, D; Holmberg, A, ed. Some Aspects of the Grammar of Zina Kotoko. Muenchen: Lincom Europa, 2002, pp.162-174.
    • Holmberg A, Nikanne U. . In: Svenonius, P, ed. Subjects, Expletives, and the EPP. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002, pp.71-105.

  • Conference Proceedings (inc. Abstracts)

    • Alshamari M, Holmberg A. . In: 42nd GLOW (Generative Linguistics in the Old World) Conference. 2019, Oslo.
    • Haddican W, Holmberg A. . In: Complex Visibles Out There. Proceedings from the Olomouc Linguistics Colloquium 2014. 2014, Olomouc, Czech Republic: Palacký University Olomouc.
    • Biberauer T, Holmberg A, Roberts I. . In: Proceedings of the 26th West Coast Conference on Formal Linguistics. 2007, University of California, Berkeley: Cascadilla Proceedings Project.

  • Edited Books

    • Holmberg A, Wu M-J, ed. . Somerville MA USA: Cascadilla Proceedings Project, 2018.
    • Buchstaller I, Holmberg A, Almoaily M, ed. . Amsterdam, The Netherlands: John Benjamins Publishing Co, 2014.

  • Online Publication

    • Holmberg A, Phimsawat O. . 2017. Available at: .

  • Report

    • Holmberg A. . Â鶹´«Ã½ upon Tyne: Centre for Research in Linguistics and Language Sciences (CRiLLS), Â鶹´«Ã½ Universty, 2010. Â鶹´«Ã½ Working Papers in Linguistics v.16.