| Position | Professor |
|---|---|
| Faculty | English Language and Literature |
| Graduate School | English Language and Literature |
| Department | English Language and Literature |
Career
| September 1993 : | Ph.D. in linguistics, MIT |
| April 1998 : | Appointed to the Faculty of Letters, Graduate School of Humanities and Sociology, The University of Tokyo |
Research Area
Theoretical Linguistics
1) syntax
2) morphology
My research interests lie in the theory of universal grammar and parametric syntax. I have published articles on wh-in-situ, Case, switch reference, negative concord, models of parameter setting, diachronic changes in the history of Japanese, relative clauses, the structure of DP, theory of phi-feature agreement, syntax of adjectives and adpositions, degree modification, the mass/count distinction, and numerals. In recent years, I have worked on matters related to morphology as well. I have come to this subfield of linguistics through two routes, namely, analysis of agreement and numeral classifiers. The latter has also led me to questions about the status of Sino-Japanese morphemes in syntax and morphology. The languages that I look at are not limited to English and Japanese but also include whatever is relevant in my attempt to come up with theoretical innovations. For major publications of mine since 2000, see two entries of ResearchGate. [ https://www.researchgate.net/scientific-contributions/Akira-Watanabe-2096488948, https://www.researchgate.net/scientific-contributions/Akira-Watanabe-2067686028 ]
