Grammar and Cognition

The CLS research group Grammar and Cognition aims to arrive at a better understanding of form (syntax) and meaning (semantics) in context (pragmatics). We investigate which factors guide hearers to the interpretation and speakers to the production of words, phrases and sentences. In our research, we combine theoretical linguistics with typology, empirical linguistics (experimental and corpus-based research), computational linguistics and literary studies.

Research projects

Abstract image of blue and red smoke coming together

The Language Leak

Research

This project aims at uncovering the architecture of the multilingual sentence processing system and explaining how multilingual’s languages interact.

Nimwèègs from a dynamic point of view

Research

The city dialect of Nijmegen, known as Nimwèègs in the local vernacular, is a dialect spoken in the city of Nijmegen. This project aims at understanding the communicative place of Nimwèègs in the linguistic ecology of Nijmegen.

Staff members

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Students

Research assistants

Our research assistants assist the G&C members with various tasks, such as preparing and testing for experiments, and organising data.

Elsa Opheij - elsa.opheij [at] ru.nl
Iris Faber - iris.faber [at] ru.nl

Interns

Levi Voeteé, levi.voetee [at] ru.nl
Tamara Mauro, tamara.mauro [at] ru.nl
Kyra Kashigin, kyra.kashigin [at] ru.nl

Honours students

Honours students of the Faculty of Arts have the opportunity to train their research skills by conducting their own research project under the supervision of one or more senior researchers. The following students are currently undertaking research projects within Grammar and Cognition.

Dalí Chirino

Dalí is a student of Dutch Language and Culture. He is going to research a Dutch grammatical phenomenon called preposition-stranding, in sentences such as "Dat boek keek ik naar". In the past it was argued that such constructions would be impossible in Dutch. However, modern Dutch contains many of these constructions. He is curious about this change in popularity over the years and the underlying grammatical structure.

Thomas van der Leer

Thomas is a Bachelor's student of Philosophy and Linguistics. His main interests lie in semantics and philosophy of language and logic. Previously, he completed an Honours project for the FFTR, focussing on a semantic analysis of conditionals. For his Honours project at the Faculty of Arts he will shine a new, linguistic light on this quite theoretical and philosophical subject. Hopefully, an even more insightful view on the interesting subject of conditionals will be the end result.

Looking for a research project?

Grammar and Cognition welcomes students at all levels. Our honours, bachelor’s and master’s students have the opportunity to train their research skills by conducting their own research project under the supervision of our senior members.

Discover more research projects

Are you a Bachelor's or Master's student and looking for a research project in which to write your thesis? Contact us!