About

Joan Bresnan is the Sadie Dernham Patek Professor in Humanities, Emerita, at Stanford University. She is an Emeritus Faculty member in the Department of Linguistics and is available at Stanford Profile. Her research interests include linguistics, with a focus on the structure and function of language. As a distinguished scholar, she has made significant contributions to the field of linguistics and is recognized for her academic achievements and leadership within the university community.

Research topics

• Computer Science
• Natural Language Processing
• Artificial Intelligence
• Philosophy
• Linguistics
• Programming language

Selected publications

• Why lexical syntax?

  Open MIND · 2023-12-09

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  The English object pronoun enclitics are of particular interest because they and their host verbs are syntactically independent in c-structure but show classic evidence of lexicalization: (1) allomorphy of the enclitic in the context of the host, (2) prosodic wordhood with the host, and (3) the existence of special pragmatics and meanings. Moreover, their cooccurrence probabilities in spoken corpora predict both (4) the probability of enclisis and (5) the probability of special pragmatics and meanings. The latter points are further signs of shared lexical representation, because within a hybrid exemplar-based lexicon, cooccurrence probabilities approximate the strength of lexical representations. Previous formal accounts of the enclitic object pronouns fail to account for their syntax, and none explain the new probabilistic evidence presented here. The hybrid formal and usage-based framework of Bresnan (2021a) provides a coherent explanation of these facts, and it broadens and deepens the evidence for lexical syntax.

  OA PDFDOI

• Introduction

  Oxford University Press eBooks · 2021

  Senior authorCorresponding
  • Computer Science
  • Natural Language Processing
  • Linguistics

  <italic>Modular design of grammar: Linguistics on the edge</italic> presents the cutting edge of research on linguistic modules and interfaces in Lexical-Functional Grammar (LFG). LFG has a highly modular design that models the linguistic system as a set of discreet submodules that include, among others, constituent structure, functional structure, argument structure, semantic structure, and prosodic structure, with each module having its coherent properties and being related to each other by correspondence functions. The contributions in this volume represent the broad range and interconnection of theoretical, formal, and descriptive considerations that continues to be the hallmark of LFG.

  PublisherDOI

• Formal Grammar, Usage Probabilities, and Auxiliary Contraction

  Language · 2021 · 12 citations

  1st authorCorresponding
  • Computer Science
  • Natural Language Processing
  • Computer Science

  This article uses formal and usage-based data and methods to argue for a hybrid model of English tensed auxiliary contraction combining lexical syntax with a dynamic exemplar lexicon. The hybrid model can explain why the contractions involve lexically specific phonetic fusions that have become morphologized and lexically stored, yet remain syntactically independent, and why the probability of contraction itself is a function of the adjacent cooccurrences of the subject and auxiliary in usage, yet is also subject to the constraints of the grammatical context. Novel evidence includes a corpus study and a formal analysis of a multiword expression of classic usage-based grammar.

  PublisherDOI

• Formal grammar, usage probabilities, and auxiliary contraction

  Language · 2021

  1st authorCorresponding
  • Computer Science
  • Natural Language Processing
  • Computer Science

  This article uses formal and usage-based data and methods to argue for a hybrid model of English tensed auxiliary contraction combining lexical syntax with a dynamic exemplar lexicon. The hybrid model can explain why the contractions involve lexically specific phonetic fusions that have become morphologized and lexically stored, yet remain syntactically independent, and why the probability of contraction itself is a function of the adjacent cooccurrences of the subject and auxiliary in usage, yet is also subject to the constraints of the grammatical context. Novel evidence includes a corpus study and a formal analysis of a multiword expression of classic usage-based grammar.*

  PublisherDOI

• Spoken syntax in a comparative perspective: The dative and genitive alternation in varieties of English

  Glossa a journal of general linguistics · 2017-09-29 · 84 citations

  articleOpen access

  This paper introduces a new resource designed to facilitate the quantitative investigation of syntactic variation in spoken language from a comparative perspective. The datasets comprise homogeneously annotated collections of “interchangeable” (i.e. competing) genitive and dative variants in four varieties of English: American English, British English, Canadian English, and New Zealand English. To showcase the empirical potential of the data source, we present a suggestive analysis that investigates the extent to which the probabilistic grammar of genitive and dative variant choice differs across varieties. The statistical analysis reveals that while there are a number of subtle probabilistic contrasts between the regional varieties under study, there is overall a striking degree of cross-varietal homogeneity. We conclude by outlining directions for future research. This article is part of the Special Collection: Probabilistic grammars: Syntactic variation in a comparative perspective

  PublisherDOI

• Theory of Complementation in English Syntax

  2016-11-10 · 355 citations

  bookOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  The subject of this study, first published in 1979, is the role of the complementizer in English syntax and its implications for syntactic theory. It is argued that the familiar transformational treatment of complementizers is inadequate, and that they must be specified in deep structure by means of a Phrase Structure rule. This title will be of interest to students of language and linguistics.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• The Semantic Functions of the Predicate Complementizers

  2016-11-10

  article1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Original Copyright Page

  2016-11-10

  article1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Linguistics: The Garden and the Bush

  Computational Linguistics · 2016-09-28 · 7 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  I want to thank the ACL for the Lifetime Achievement Award of 2016. I am deeply honored, and I share this honor with the outstanding collaborators and students I have been lucky to have over my lifetime.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• From Argument Structure to Functional Structure

  2015-06-23

  other1st authorCorresponding

  Functional structures come from the lexical mapping theory (LMT), which projects skeletal f-structures from argument structures by general principles. This idea is illustrated in terms of the contrast between English and Warlpiri. There are varying conceptions of what argument structure is, even among researchers working within lexical-functional grammar (LFG). The reason for this is that argument structure has two faces, semantic and syntactic. On the semantic side, argument structure represents the core participants in events/states/processes designated by a single predicator. On the syntactic side, argument structure represents the minimal information needed to characterize the syntactic dependents of an argument-taking head. A-structures in LFG must have sufficient syntactic information to support the direct mapping to surface functions. The chapter suggests that there might be general principles for selecting grammatical functions from argument structures, and the first convincing instantiation of such principles is found in the work of Zaenen et al.

  PublisherDOI

Recent grants

• The Dynamics of Probabilistic Grammar

  NSF · $750k · 2006–2010

• The Development of Syntactic Alternations

  NSF · $275k · 2010–2015

Frequent coauthors

• Inbal Arnon

  Hebrew University of Jerusalem

  12 shared

• Neal Snider

  CEA LIST

  11 shared

• Anubha Kothari

  Stanford University

  11 shared

• Susanne Gahl

  10 shared

• Harry Tily

  10 shared

• Marilyn Ford

  University of Mississippi

  6 shared

• Annie Zaenen

  Stanford University

  4 shared

• Tatiana Nikitina

  Pskov State University

  4 shared

Labs

• Joan Bresnan LabPI

Education

• Ph.D., Computer Science

  Stanford University

  1980

• B.A., Philosophy

  University of California, Berkeley

  1975

Awards & honors

• Stanford Honors Thesis Prizes - Symbolic Systems
• Glushko Prize for Excellence in Undergraduate Research in Sy…
• Barwise Award for Distinguished Contributions to Symbolic Sy…
• Symbolic Systems Distinguished Teaching Award