Our department sometimes offers Directed Reading modules for students with particular research interests. I ran such a module this term on the topic of historical syntax. The six participating MA students presented their findings in the form of a poster. A video of their presentations is now available for anybody interested.

We decided to study aspects of the history of the verb fear. It is a surprisingly rich and frutiful topic, allowing us to learn more about the role of argument structure, complementation, negation, parenthetical use, and individual variability in linguistic changes.

You can watch the recording here or watch it directly below:



I would like to thank Michael Green, Xinyi Liang, Linzi Liu, Yuchen Ma, Konstantinos Pavlakoudis and Varshini Desikan for their hard work and discussions. I hope the video will some day bring back fond memories of their time as MA students.