Department of Theoretical and Applied Linguistics

Department of Theoretical and Applied Linguistics

   

Ian Roberts specialises in comparative and historical syntax, using and developing the 'principles and parameters' approach to cross-linguistic variation. In this context, he has worked on the synchronic and diachronic syntax of a wide range of Germanic, Romance and Celtic languages. He has published four research monographs in this field: The Representation of Implicit and Dethematised Subjects (1987); Verbs and Diachronic Syntax (1993); Syntactic Change (2003) with A Roussou, and Principles and Parameters in a VSO Language: A Case Study in Welsh (2005), as well as numerous articles and two textbooks, Comparative Syntax (1997) and Diachronic Syntax (2007), as well as a six-volume edited collection Comparative Grammar (2007). His most recent books are Syntactic Variation in Minimalist Syntax, with Theresa Biberauer, Anders Holmberg and Michelle Sheehan (2010) and Agreement and Head Movement (2010). In 2011 he was awarded an Advanced Grant of 2.5 million euros by the European Research Council for the project Rethinking Comparative Syntax, which aims to systematise the syntactic variation found in the world's languages in a novel way.