Jenia Khristoforova – University of Amsterdam

Challenging Theories: Insights from Sign Language Syntax (basic/advanced)

This advanced course explores how key syntactic phenomena in sign languages—such as agreement, classifier constructions, question formation, and syntactic complexity—challenge and enrich our theoretical understanding of grammar. Drawing on data from diverse sign languages, we’ll examine how these structures interact with core notions of predication and sentence architecture, offering students a broader perspective on familiar topics from spoken language syntax. The course is designed for students with prior background in syntax who are curious about the implications of sign language data for linguistic theory.