Dr Theresa Biberauer

I specialise in theoretical, comparative and historical syntax, with interface, acquisition and contact issues also being a focus of interest. To date, much of my research has centred on the clause structure of the Germanic languages, with the peculiar patterns of variation and change exhibited by Afrikaans forming the heart of my doctoral work, and various aspects of the diachrony of English and other Germanic languages having been a major research focus since the completion of that Ph.D. in 2003. I was previously (2002-2007) the Research Associate on an AHRC-funded project Null subjects and the structure of parametric theory, also involving Ian Roberts, David Willis and Anders Holmberg (University of Newcastle), and then the Senior Research Associate on a further AHRC-funded project (October 2007-May 2011) investigating Structure and Linearization in Disharmonic Word Orders (research team: Ian Roberts and Theresa Biberauer (Cambridge), and Anders Holmberg and Michelle Sheehan (Newcastle). June 2011 saw the start of a 5-year ERC-funded grant, Reconsidering Comparative Syntax working with Ian Roberts (Principal Investigator).