At the Syntax-Pragmatics Interface: Verbal Underspecification and Concept Formation in Dynamic Syntax

Marten explores the interaction of syntax, pragmatics, and semantics in the behavior of verb phrases and how they interact with the information provided by the verb. He also considers how the component elements of linguistic theory explain what appear to be simple utterances, but whose structure is hard to analyze—how, for example, "Fran is baking Mary a cake in the oven" is different from "Fran is baking Mary a cake in the kitchen".

Marten explores the interaction of syntax, pragmatics, and semantics in the behavior of verb phrases and how they interact with the information provided by the verb. He also considers how the component elements of linguistic theory explain what appear to be simple utterances, but whose structure is hard to analyze—how, for example, "Fran is baking Mary a cake in the oven" is different from "Fran is baking Mary a cake in the kitchen".

Lutz Marten has worked and studied in Hamburg, London, and Dar es Salaam. He is currently a Millennium Research Fellow at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, where he works on the dynamics of interpretation and the relation between syntax, semantics, and pragmatics, as well as on the analysis of African languages, especially Swahili.