Andrew Weir

I am Associate Professor (førsteamanuensis) of Modern English Language and Linguistics in the Department of Language and Literature. I received my undergraduate MA in Linguistics from the University of Edinburgh in 2008, an MA in Syntax from University College London in 2009, and a PhD in Linguistics from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2014. Prior to starting at NTNU in 2015, I was a postdoctoral researcher in the English department of Ghent University in Belgium.

I have been responsible for teaching Global English (ENG1001), an introductory course about the history and structure of English and its various dialects; Theoretical Approaches to English (ENG2155), an introductory syntax course; Semantics (ENG3510), and Special Subject in English Linguistics (ENG3110). I am also interested in advising masters students on any subject within formal syntax or semantics.

Academic interests

I specialize in generative syntax with a secondary focus on semantics. My work particularly focuses on the syntax and semantics of ellipsis (especially clausal ellipsis), which was the subject of my doctoral dissertation, 'Fragments and clausal ellipsis'.

I am also interested in microvariation -- particularly syntactic and semantic features of dialects of English, especially Scottish English, and of ‘reduced written register’ such as diaries, text messages, headlines etc. I have published articles in English Language & Linguistics and Linguistic Variation on the latter topic especially.

I also maintain an interest in cartographic approaches to syntax. Liliane Haegeman (Ghent University) and I have investigated the properties of West Flemish response particles within this framework. I have also previously worked on semantic topics, particularly on indefinites.

My personal website contains more details and copies of papers etc. (some 'to appear', which do not appear in the below automatically-generated list).

Selected research projects

• The syntactic and semantic licensing of ellipsis, particularly clausal ellipsis.
• Formal approaches to 'telegraphic' registers (newspaper headlines, diaries, text messages, etc.)
• Syntactic features of Scottish English, and of understudied dialects of English more generally.