James N. Collins

About me

I am broadly interested in language and cognition, natural language syntax and semantics/pragmatics. I focus especially on how humans draw inferences about natural language meaning, including inferences relating to negation, quantification, presupposition, and definiteness.

Some Lecture Notes

Semantics/Pragmatics

• NB: many exercises/examples are adapted from Christopher Potts lecture notes Linguist 130a and LSA 180P
• Topic 01: [Introduction]
• Topic 02: [Connectives]
• Topic 03: [Lexical meaning]
• Topic 04: [Quantifiers I]
• Topic 05: [Quantifiers II]
• Topic 06: [Composition I]
• Topic 07: [Composition II]
• Topic 08: [Pragmatics]
• Topic 09: [Implicatures]
• Topic 10: [Presupposition]
• Topic 11: [Possible Worlds]

Syntax

• NB: many exercises/examples are adapted from Jorge Hankamer lecture notes available here
• Topic 01: [Introduction]
• Topic 02: [Constituency]
• Topic 03: [X-bar I]
• Topic 04: [X-bar II]
• Topic 05: [Nominal Syntax]
• Topic 06: [XP Movement]
• Topic 07: [Head Movement]
• Topic 08: [Movement to Subject]
• Topic 09: [Case and Voice]
• Topic 10: [Non-Finite Clauses]

Publications

To appear, etc.

• Collins, James N. What's an excluded middle inference?: Neg-raising and presupposition accommodation. Re-submitted. [Draft (Jul 2021)]

2021

• Collins, James N. Mapping meanings to argument structure: The semantics of Samoan case. Polynesian Syntax and Its Interfaces, ed. by Lauren Clemens and Diane Massam. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. [Pre-publication version]
• Zhong, Jing Crystal, and James N. Collins. A QUD-based theory of quantifier conjunction with `but'. The Proceedings of WCCFL 38, ed. by R. Soo et al, 493--503. [Pre-publication version]

2020

• Collins, James N. and Peter Schuelke. Roviana fronting and the relationship between syntactic and morphological ergativity. Proceedings of AFLA 26: 54--70. [Link] [Pre-publication version]

2019

• Collins, James N. The polarity of clauses embedded under neg-raising predicates. Proceedings of SuB 23. [Pre-publication version]

2018

• Collins, James N. Definiteness determined by syntax: A case study in Tagalog. Natural Language and Linguistic Theory. Online first December 4, 2018. [Pre-publication version]
• Collins, James N. Review of Paul Kroeger Analyzing meaning: An introduction to semantics and pragmatics. Oceanic Linguistics 57(2): 253--259. [Pre-publication version]

2017

• Collins, James N. 2017. Structure-sensitive interpretation. Doctoral dissertation, Stanford University. [Download]

2016

• Collins, James N. 2016. Samoan predicate initial word order and object positions. Natural Language and Linguistic Theory 35(1): 1--59. [Pre-publication version]
• Collins, James N. 2016. Reasoning about definiteness in a language without articles. Proceedings of SALT 26: 82--102. [Download]
• Collins, James N. 2016. Composition and definiteness without articles: A case study in Tagalog. Proceedings of NELS 46. [Download]
• Collins, James N. 2016. Definiteness and implicatures in Tagalog. Proceedings of BLS 42: 273--292. [Download]
• Collins, James N. 2016. Ilokano free relatives with man. Proceedings of AFLA 21: 33--50. [Download]
• Collins, James N. 2016. The scope of the future (Squib). Ms., Stanford University [Download]
• Collins, James N. 2016. Revisiting case and voice in Tagalog: Comments on Rackowski and Richards. Workshop handout, Stanford University [Download]

2015

• Collins, James N. 2015. Diagnosing predicate fronting in Samoan. Proceedings of WCCFL 32: 228--237. [Download]
• Collins, James N. 2015. Ergativity and nominalization: The case of Samoan. Ms., Stanford University [Download]

2014

• Collins, James N. 2014. Pseudo noun incorporation in discourse. To appear in the Proceedings of AFLA 20. [Download]
• Collins, James N. 2014. The distribution of unmarked cases in Samoan. Argument Realisations and Related Constructions in Austronesian Languages: Papers from the 12th International Conference on Austronesian Linguistics, Vol. 2, ed. by I. Wayan Arka and N. L. K. Mas Indrawati, 93-110. Asia-Pacific Linguistics. [Download]
• Collins, James N., Daria Popova, Ivan A. Sag, and Thomas Wasow. 2014. Sluicing and the inquisitive potential of appositives. Parenthesis and Ellipsis: Studies in Generative Grammar 121, ed. by M. Kluck, D. Ott, and M. de Vries, 47-73. Berlin: De Gruyter. [Download]
• Collins, James N. 2014. Relation changing affixes in the Philippines. Ms., Stanford University [Download]

Presentations

2020

• Zhong, Jing Crystal and James N. Collins. 2020. A QUD-based theory of quantifier conjunction with 'but'. West Coast Conference on Formal Linguistics 38, University of British Columbia, March 7. [Slides]

2019

• Collins, James N. and Peter Schuelke. 2019. Roviana fronting and the relationship between syntactic and morphological ergativity. Austronesian Formal Linguistics Association 26, University of Western Ontario, May 25. [Handout]
• Collins, James N. and Mayaan Abenina-Adar. 2019. How modal and non-modal implications of Tagalog free relatives emerge. Austronesian Formal Linguistics Association 26, University of Western Ontario, May 24. [Handout]
• Ohba, Akari and James N. Collins. 2019. The perspective-sensitive argument structure of Japanese giving verbs. Chicago Linguistics Society 55, University of Chicago, May 16. [Slides]
• Jeong, Sunwoo and James N. Collins. 2019. Updating alternatives in pragmatic competition. SemFest 20, Stanford University, March 15. [Slides]

2018

• Collins, James N. 2018. The polarity of clauses embedded under neg-raising predicates. Sinn und Bedeutung 23, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, September 5. [Handout]
• Collins, James N. 2018. Mapping meanings to argument structure: The semantics of Samoan case. Workshop on the Syntax of Polynesian Languages, University of Toronto, June 9. [Handout]

Teaching

At the University of Hawaiʻi

• Spring 2020: Instructor, Semantics and Pragmatics
• Fall 2019: Instructor, Seminar in Syntax: Wh-movement and Ellipsis
• Fall 2019: Instructor, Language and Cognition
• Spring 2019: Instructor, Grammar (Graduate Syntax)
• Spring 2019: Instructor, Semantics and Pragmatics
• Fall 2018: Instructor, Seminar in Syntax: Case, Voice, and Grammatical Relations.

At Hebrew University of Jerusalem

• Fall 2017: Co-instructor, Approaches to Implicature (with Todd Snider)

At Stanford University

• Winter 2017: TA, Introduction to Semantics and Pragmatics (with Cleo Condoravdi)
• Fall 2016: TA, Introduction to Linguistics (with Meghan Sumner)
• Summer 2016: Coordinator, Summer Internship Program. Center for the Study of Language and Information
• Spring 2016: Grader, African American English (with John Rickford)
• Winter 2015: TA, Crosslinguistic Syntax (with Boris Harizanov)
• Winter 2014: TA, Introduction to Semantics and Pragmatics (with Chris Potts)
• Winter 2013: TA, Introduction to Linguistics (with Asya Pereltsvaig)

At University of Sydney

• Fall 2011: TA, Introduction to Linguistics (with Jason Johnston)