Title Promoter Affiliations Abstract "Functional and Cognitive Linguistics (grammar and typology)." "Peter Petré" "Grammar and Pragmatics" "Understanding how, when, and why do the functions and forms of grammar change the way they do, in order to gain insight in human cognition and evolution. The fundamental questions that continue to guide this research are: 1. To what extent is language change dependent on linguistic variation between individuals? For a long time studies on language change treated language as an abstract object cut loose from its users. But obviously language cannot exist without them. While sociolinguists have paid attention to variation between speakers based on social variables (such as age, gender, class), the individual matter less to them, as it is bound to align itself to its peers. Such a view is problematic in view of recent theories that consider language to function as a complex adaptive system, not only at the aggregate level (being an emergent property of the interaction of multiple agents), but also at the level of the individuals themselves. Since language is learnt based on input, which is unique to every individual, different individuals are expected to make different (linguistic) abstractions and generalizations. Cognitive learning styles appear not to be identical either. People do not always share linguistic generalizations even if belonging to the same community. One objective is to shed light on how this cognitive variation feeds into language at the community level. 2. To which degree do individuals change their syntactic behavior across their lifespans? This second question relates to the role of cognitive aging in syntactic change. Two conflicting views have dominated this debate. Research embedded in the generative tradition takes syntactic structures to crystallize into a stable state in early childhood. Proponents of this view typically consider children as the primary instigators of change. Conversely, usage-based/constructionist approaches attribute a central role to language use in both the acquisition process and in language change. Linguistic change is considered to originate in speaker interaction. Speakers may adopt novel constructions both in childhood and later in life, where the second option is the most likely for constructions with complex pragmatic features (such as the grammaticalization of epistemic meaning). From earlier research it appeared that both qualitative and quantitative grammatical change in adult life is attested, but at the same time limited by entrenched use as well as social inhibition. A full understanding of change will have to involve both generational incrementation and lifespan change. 3. To what degree do changes in different constructions affect each other, also at the individual level? During much of its history English has drifted towards a stricter SOV word order, and much more so than other Germanic languages. One effect of this is that the subject slot expanded to host a greater variety of subject types, including for instance a higher rate of inanimate subjects (rather than prototypical agent-subjects). My ERC project investigated the evidence that individuals are perceptive of large-scale shifts like this, and whether their grammars show lifespan developments that feed into them. For example, it appears that there has been an increase of inanimate subjects in progressive constructions. Do individuals, then, who participate in this increase, also partici¬pate in the increase of inanimate subjects in other constructions? Or are individuals unaware of these large-scale emergent properties? Turns out individuals do associate closely related constructions in their minds. However, it has so far been impossible to find conclusive evidence for the idea that such constructions also coevolve across the lifespan. While lack of data is partly to blame, there are indicat¬ions that this type of longer-term coevolution is out of the purview of individual language users and is rather an emergent effect, as is common in complex adaptive systems. The issue will be further investigated." "Functional and Cognitive Linguistics (grammar and typology)." "Peter Petré" "Grammar and Pragmatics" "The research project Mind-Bending Grammars innovatively combines language change research with research on the individual mind. In the past linguistics has overwhelmingly treated change as happening to an abstract object 'language'. But it is the minds of actual people that change language. Mind-Bending Grammars will greatly contribute to our understanding of the adaptive powers of adult cognition. The project specifically aims at making a breakthrough in two key issues in linguistic theory by tracing with the utmost detail step-by-step changes in grammatical constructions." "Cognitive decline in Alzheimer's disease: motoric, cognitive and linguistic aspects of sentence production." "Mariëlle Leijten" "EduBROn, Management" "Research has shown that Alzheimer (AD) patients manifest deterioration in language production. The current (diagnostic) instruments for language assessment (in general, as well as in relation to dementia) largely focus on product measures, such as phrase length and number of errors. However, the processes leading to spoken and written text production provide insight into language ability as well. This research project aims to develop valid sentence production tasks that enable researchers and clinicians to adequately characterize the longitudinal decline of on-line written language production in AD. These aims will be addressed in three consecutive studies: 1. an exploratory study, 2. a cross-sectional study, and 3. a longitudinal study. Since findings from previous research indicate the need for a screening task that assesses multiple components of language, we will combine writing tasks that focus on motor (physical typing skills), cognitive (mind) and linguistic (language) aspects. Therefore, during an exploratory study we aim to develop a number of highly controlled sentence production tasks that assess a set of predefined cognitive and linguistic process aspects. Exploratory study In the exploratory study, we aim to initially develop 60 picture combination cards; groups of separate pictures that elicit a written sentence. During the experiment, participants are instructed to include the objects depicted when producing a sentence and to link them with a verb that fits the situation. The observation method used is keystroke logging via the in-house developed tool Inputlog, which is non-intrusive, time-saving, and hence cost-reducing, when compared to other tools or techniques. By using validated pictures we can easily predetermine the words participants will probably use when producing a sentence and hence monitor specific word characteristics that influence cognitive pauses. Recent explorations on related linguistic data proved the discriminatory power of determiners, nouns, verbs (and adjectives) for distinguishing between participant groups. Therefore, these word categories will be the main focus of the elicited sentences. Cross-sectional and longitudinal study Based on the findings of the exploratory study, the number of picture combination cards needed (via statistical techniques like Generalizability and Design study) will be reduced to an optimal minimum. In the experimental cross-sectional study patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), mild AD and a healthy control group will be involved. The participants will be asked to perform a brief copy task (motor and typing skills) and to produce sentences (cognitive and linguistic skills) based on randomly selected picture combination cards. Finally, in the longitudinal study, the cross-sectional study will be replicated after six and twelve months in order to document the (potential) cognitive decline. We will opt for mixed effects models in which the random effects of subjects, sentences and words are modeled. A secondary goal of this research project is to further automatize data analysis and report generation allowing clinicians to interpret the data instantly. Since we trigger predefined nouns, verbs and adjectives in our study, we should be able to further automatize the analysis and reporting via Inputlog." "Cognitive decline in Alzheimer's disease: motoric, cognitive and linguistic aspects of sentence production" "Mariëlle Leijten" "EduBROn, Management" "Research has shown that Alzheimer (AD) patients manifest deterioration in language production. The current (diagnostic) instruments for language assessment (in general, as well as in relation to dementia) largely focus on product measures, such as phrase length and number of errors. However, the processes leading to spoken and written text production provide insight into language ability as well. This research project aims to develop valid sentence production tasks that enable researchers and clinicians to adequately characterize the longitudinal decline of on-line written language production in AD. These aims will be addressed in three consecutive studies: 1. an exploratory study, 2. a cross-sectional study, and 3. a longitudinal study. Since findings from previous research indicate the need for a screening task that assesses multiple components of language, we will combine writing tasks that focus on motor (physical typing skills), cognitive (mind) and linguistic (language) aspects. Therefore, during an exploratory study we aim to develop a number of highly controlled sentence production tasks that assess a set of predefined cognitive and linguistic process aspects. Exploratory study In the exploratory study, we aim to initially develop 60 picture combination cards; groups of separate pictures that elicit a written sentence. During the experiment, participants are instructed to include the objects depicted when producing a sentence and to link them with a verb that fits the situation. The observation method used is keystroke logging via the in-house developed tool Inputlog, which is non-intrusive, time-saving, and hence cost-reducing, when compared to other tools or techniques. By using validated pictures we can easily predetermine the words participants will probably use when producing a sentence and hence monitor specific word characteristics that influence cognitive pauses. Recent explorations on related linguistic data proved the discriminatory power of determiners, nouns, verbs (and adjectives) for distinguishing between participant groups. Therefore, these word categories will be the main focus of the elicited sentences. Cross-sectional and longitudinal study Based on the findings of the exploratory study, the number of picture combination cards needed (via statistical techniques like Generalizability and Design study) will be reduced to an optimal minimum. In the experimental cross-sectional study patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), mild AD and a healthy control group will be involved. The participants will be asked to perform a brief copy task (motor and typing skills) and to produce sentences (cognitive and linguistic skills) based on randomly selected picture combination cards. Finally, in the longitudinal study, the cross-sectional study will be replicated after six and twelve months in order to document the (potential) cognitive decline. We will opt for mixed effects models in which the random effects of subjects, sentences and words are modeled. A secondary goal of this research project is to further automatize data analysis and report generation allowing clinicians to interpret the data instantly. Since we trigger predefined nouns, verbs and adjectives in our study, we should be able to further automatize the analysis and reporting via Inputlog." "The differential role of cognitive and linguistic skills in the development of reading in Arabic language" "Pol Ghesquière" "Parenting and Special Education" "The proposed longitudinal study will simultaneously target the core domains of the academic skill literacy, including word reading accuracy, fluency, phonological awareness, morphological awareness. It aims to investigate literacy development of children from kindergarten to second grade in order to learn about the predictors of and risks factors for specific reading disabilities. Firstly, there should be an identification of children at risk to develop difficulties in these academic domains. These children will be tested by linguistics tasks (literacy, phonology, morphology) and cognitive tasks. Later on, in first and second grade, an individual intervention will be offered adapted to the results of the before mentioned tests. Linguistic and cognitive tests will be assessed again after the intervention in each grade in order to learn about the appropriate intervention in each age group. Tentative bibliography of most relevant sources: Horn, W.F., & Packard, T. (1985). Early identification of learning problems: A meta-analysis. Journal of Educational Psychology, 77, 597-607. Abu Ahmad, H., Ibrahim, R., & Share, D. L. (2014). Cognitive predictors of early reading ability in Arabic: a longitudinal study from kindergarten to grade 2. In E. Saiegh- Haddad, & M. Joshi (Eds), Handbook of Arabic Literacy: Insights and Perspectives (Language and Literacy Series) (pp. 171-194). Dordrecht: Springer. Elbeheri, G. & Everatt, J. (2007). Literacy ability and phonological processing skills amongst dyslexic and non-dyslexic speakers of Arabic. Reading and Writing, 20, 273-294. Eviatar, Z., Ibrahim, R &.Ganayim, D. (2004). Orthography and the hemispheres: Visual and linguistic aspects of letter processing. Neuropsychology, 18(1),184-174. 2 Saiegh-Haddad, E. (2003). Linguistic distance and initial reading Acquisition: The case of Arabic diglossia. Applied Psycholinguistics, 24, 431-451. Saiegh-Haddad, E. (2004). The impact of phonemic and lexical distance on the phonological analysis of words and pseudowords in a diglossic context. Applied Psycholinguistics, 25, 495-512. Shalhoub-Awwad, Y., & Leikin, M. (in preparation). The lexical status of the root in processing morphologically complex words in Arabic" "Motoric, cognitive and linguistic writing process characteristics in Alzheimer's disease: a task validity, cross-sectional and longitudinal study." "Mariëlle Leijten" Management "Research has shown that Alzheimer (AD) patients manifest deterioration in language production. This research project aims to develop valid screening tasks that enable researchers and clinicians to characterize the longitudinal decline of on-line written language production in AD over a 12- month period. These aims will be addressed in three consecutive studies: 1. a task-validity study, 2. a cross-sectional study, and 3. a longitudinal study. Since findings from previous research indicate the need for a screening task that assesses multiple components of language, we will combine writing tasks that focus on motor and cognitive and linguistic aspects. The more general screening tasks (i.c., describing two pictures depicting a situation) that focus on the cognitive and linguistic aspects need to be validated first. The quality of the elicitation, and consequently of the screening tool, will benefit from a careful validation of the tasks at hand. Based on the findings of the task validity study, we will design an experimental cross-sectional study involving patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), mild AD and a healthy control group. The observation method used, keystroke logging, is non-intrusive, timesaving, and hence cost-reducing, when compared to other diagnostic tools. Finally, in a longitudinal study, the cross-sectional study will be replicated at three different moments (0-6-12 months) in order to document the (potential) cognitive decline." "Motoric, cognitive and linguistic writing process characteristics in Alzheimer's disease: A task validity, cross-sectional and longitudinal study." "Mariëlle Leijten" Management "Research has shown that Alzheimer (AD) patients manifest deterioration in language production. This research project aims to develop complementary screening tasks that enable researchers and clinicians to characterize the longitudinal decline of on-line written language production in AD . These aims will be addressed in three consecutive studies: 1. a task-validity study, 2. a cross-sectional study, and 3. a longitudinal study.Since findings from previous research indicate the need for a screening task that assesses multiple components of language, we will combine writing tasks that focus on motor and cognitive and linguistic aspects. The more general screening tasks (i.c., describing two pictures depicting a situation) that focus on the cognitive and linguistic aspects need to be validated first. The quality of the elicitation, and consequently of the screening tool, will benefit from a careful validation of the tasks at hand. Based on the findings of the task validity study, we will design an experimental cross-sectional study involving patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), mild AD and a healthy control group. The observation method used, keystroke logging, is non-intrusive, time-saving, and hence cost-reducing, when compared to other diagnostic tools. Finally, in a longitudinal study, the cross-sectional study will be replicated twice (after 6 and 12 months) in order to document the (potential) gradual cognitive decline." "Prestige as explanatory factor for borrowability: A Cognitive Contact Linguistic approach." "Dirk Geeraerts" "Quantitative Lexicology and Variational Linguistics (QLVL), Leuven" "The two most frequently listed reasons for borrowing are lexical gaps and prestige. Where one of the main goals of my PhD project was to find empirical proof for the importance of lexical gaps for borrowability, this postdoc project focuses on verifying to what extent prestige can explain variation in the borrowability of lexical items. To this end, three different and highly complementary case studies will be conducted. The first survey-based study focuses on lexical choice: when source and receptor language forms are competing lexicalizations for a concept (e.g. the English loanword soulmate vs. the Dutch alternative boezemvriend), which social groups prefer the source language form as prestigious variant? The second study uses experimental techniques to determine when Flemish children learn that English loans index a different social identity than Dutch forms. The final study relies on interactional analyses to pattern whether and to what extent Dutch teenage girls model their language on American girls English." "Prestige as explanatory factor for borrowability: a Cognitive Contact Linguistic approach." "Dirk Speelman" "Quantitative Lexicology and Variational Linguistics (QLVL), Leuven, Quantitative Lexicology and Variational Linguistics (QLVL), Brussels Campus" "Why do the Dutch refer to their best friend as their 'soulmate' instead of their 'zielsvriend'? Why do the French use 'pipole' to talk about 'celebrities'? More generally, why do people borrow words from other languages? The two most popular answers linguists have provided are lexical gaps and prestige. It is not hard to understand the importance of lexical gaps: new objects or concepts need new names, and borrowing words is a convenient way to add new names to a language. This strategy is especially popular when the new object is introduced by a specific country or socio-cultural field of influence (e.g. English words for IT products). But what about prestige? Although the factor is often mentioned in unison with lexical gaps, hardly any attempts have been made to empirically assess just how important it is for borrowing. One reason for this lack of research is the methodological complexity of measuring something as multi-faceted and psychologically motivated as the prestige of a language. This project tries to tackle these difficulties by conducting three case studies, each using different methods to capture different facets of prestige. Respectively, the studies focus on social variation in lexical choice between borrowed forms and native alternatives (e.g. 'soulmate' vs. 'zielsvriend'); on elementary school children’s subconscious attitudes towards English words; and on the spread of Valley Speech patterns ('I was like: oh my God') amongst young female adolescents." "אמת in the DSS: a cognitive linguistic, literary, and historical approach" "Eibert Tigchelaar" "Research Unit of Biblical Studies" "This project aims at a philological discussion and semantic analysis of one of the apparent keywords, ʾemet—generally glossed as ‘truth’, but often meaning something different than English ‘truth’—in the Dead Sea Scrolls, in particular in three key texts in which ʾemet is particularly frequent, the Rule of the Community, the Thanksgiving Hymns, and 4QInstruction. The philological discussion aims largely at a first comprehensive critical survey of Dead Sea Scrolls scholarship on the word ʾemet, and its purportedly special sectarian development of meaning. The semantic analysis, the details of which will have to be developed in the project, aims at a linguistic study of ʾemet in the Dead Sea Scrolls, as an alternative or complementary approach to the traditional philological one."