Tsai, Wei-Tien Dylan

Professor
Graduate Institute of Linguistics
National Tsing Hua University
Hsinchu 300, Taiwan

Office: College of Humanities and Social Science, A520 Telephone: 886-3-5715131 Ext. 4550
Fax: 886-3-5725994
E-mail: wttsai@mx.nthu.edu.tw

RESEARCH INTERESTS:
Syntactic Theory, Syntax-Semantics Interface, Chinese Syntax, and Austronesian Syntax.
TEACHING INTERESTS:
Syntax courses at all levels, introductory linguistics courses, topics on Chinese and Austronesian linguistics, and topics on the syntax-semantics interface.


Education · Academic Appointments · Visiting Appointments · Academic Service · Academic Grants & Honors

Invited Talks & Panel · Journal Papers · Conference Papers · Books · Edited Volumes


EDUCATION:

  • Ph.D. in Linguistics (September 1994)

Department of Linguistics & Philosophy, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

PhD Dissertation: On Economizing the Theory of A-Bar Dependencies

Dissertation Committee: Noam Chomsky (chair), Ken Hale, James Huang, and Howard Lasnik


  • M.A. in Linguistics (June 1989)

Graduate Institute of Linguistics, National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan

MA Thesis: On Extraction of Wh-Adjuncts in Chinese

Thesis Committee: Kuang Mei and Ting-Chi Tang


  • B.A. in Chinese Linguistics and Philology (June 1986)

    Department of Chinese Linguistics and Literature, National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan


ACADEMIC APPOINTMENTS:

  • 2002~           Professor, National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan.

  • 1998~2002 Associate Professor, National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan.

  • 1994~1998 Assistant Professor, National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan.

  • 1989~1990 Lecturer, National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan.


VISITING APPOINTMENTS:

  • Mar 2004 ~ Mar 2005

Visiting Fellow, Center for Chinese Linguistics, Beijing University

  • Oct 2003 ~ June 2004

Visiting Exchange Fellow, International Institute for Asian Studies, Leiden University, the Netherlands

  • Oct 2000

Visiting Researcher, Zentrum für Allgemeine Sprachwissenschaft, Typologie und Universalienforschung, Berlin, Germany.

  • Aug 1998 ~ July 1999

Visiting Associate Researcher, University of California, Irvine, USA.


ACADEMIC SERVICE:

  • 2002~     : Associate Editorial Board of The Linguistic Variation Yearbook

  • 2002~     : Editorial Board of Taiwan Journal of Linguistics

  • 1999~     : Editorial Board of Journal of East Asian Linguistics

  • 1998~     : Board of Correspondents/Regular Contributors of GLOT International

  • Referee for

GLOT International

Journal of East Asian Linguistics

Journal of Linguistics

Language and Linguistics

Linguistic Inquiry

Linguistics

Linguistics and Philosophy

Natural Language and Linguistic Theory

The Linguistic Review

Tsing Hua Journal of Chinese Studies


ACADEMIC GRANTS AND HONORS:

  • Aboriginal People Language, Education & Culture Publication Awards, 2003, Ministry of Education, Taiwan (NT$80,000)

  • Young Scholar Publication Awards, 2000, Academia Sinica (NT$300,000)

  • Research Awards, 1995~2000, National Science Council (NT$930,000 total)

  • Project Grants, 1997~2004, National Science Council (NT$3,599,000 total)

  • June 2002 Keynote Speaker: The 2nd International Conference on Formal Linguistics, Hunan University, Changsha, China. Title: On Someone, Some People, and Some of the People in Chinese

  • Aug 2001 Invited Speaker: The First Kent Ridge International Roundtable Conference on Chinese Linguistics, National University of Singapore, Singapore.

  • Oct 2000 Invited Speaker: Workshop on Predicative Constructions, Zentrum für Allgemeine Sprachwissenschaft, Typologie und Universalienforschung, Berlin, Germany. Title: On Object Specificity

  • Aug 2000 Invited Speaker: Linguistics in the Next Decade, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan.

  • Aug 1996 Invited Speaker: The 2nd International Conference on Formal Approaches to Japanese Linguistics, Tohoku Gakuin University, Sendai, Japan. Title: On Subject Specificity


INVITED TALKS AND PANEL:

2004/05 Centre de Recherches Linguistiques sur l'Asie Orientale, Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris, France. Title: On the Formal Semantics of Only and Even in Chinese

2004/04 Institut für Linguistik, Universität Potsdam, Germany. Title: Left Periphery and How-Why Alternations

2004/04 ZAS Roundtable, Centre for General Linguistics, Typology and Universals Research, Berlin, Germany.

2004/03 Leiden Centre for Linguistics, Leiden University, the Netherlands. Title: Left Periphery and How-Why Alternations

2004/02 The Models of Grammar Group, Tilburg University, the Netherlands. Title: Self, Selfhood, and Nature

2004/01 Dept. of East Asian Languages and Civilizations, Harvard University. Title: On the Grammar-Cognition Interface: Evidence from the Distribution and Interpretations of Chinese Adverbials

2003/01 中國社會科學院語言學研究所. Title: 從狀語的分布與詮釋看語法－認知界面的問題

2003/01 北京清華大學中文系. Title: 為什麼問怎麼樣，怎麼樣問為什麼

2003/01 北京語言大學外語學院. Title: 從狀語的分布與詮釋看語法－認知界面的問題

2002/07 Department of Chinese, Translation & Linguistics, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong. Title: On Causality of Why-questions

2001/08 The First Kent Ridge International Roundtable Conference on Chinese Linguistics, National University of Singapore, Singapore. Title: One, Two, Three

2000/11 台灣大學語言學研究所. Title: 自己、自性與自然

2000/11 政治大學語言學研究所. Title: 一、二、三

2000/10 HIL, Leiden University, the Netherlands. Title: The Hows of Why and the Whys of How

2000/10 Zentrum für Allgemeine Sprachwissenschaft, Typologie und Universalienforschung, Berlin, Germany. Title: The Hows of Why and the Whys of How

2000/08 Linguistics in the Next Decade, Academia Sinica, Taiwan. Title: Deriving Subjacency Effects

2000/04 台灣師範大學英語系所. Title: 為什麼問怎麼樣，怎麼樣問為什麼

1998/11 Department of Linguistics, University of Southern California, USA. Title: Lexical Courtesy Revisited

1998/04 中正大學語言學研究所. Title: 談「有人」、「有的人」和「有些人」

1997/06 廣東外語外貿大學英語系所. Title: 語言學的常與變

1996/09 高雄師範大學英語系所. Title: Visibility, Complement Selection & the Case Requirement of CP

1996/05 彰化師範大學英語系所. Title: 語言學的常與變

1995/10 政治大學語言學研究所. Title: Extended Mapping Hypothesis and the Theory of Syntax-Semantics Interface

1995/03 台灣師範大學英語系所. Title: To Move or not to Move: That is the Question

1994/07 中央研究院歷史語言研究所. Title: To Move or not to Move: That is the Question


Education · Academic Appointments · Visiting Appointments · Academic Service · Academic Grants & Honors

Invited Talks & Panel · Journal Papers · Conference Papers · Books · Edited Volumes


JOURNAL PAPERS:

In English

  • Tsai, Wei-Tien Dylan (2003) "Three Types of Existential Quantification in Chinese," in Li, Audrey and Andrew Simpson (eds.) Functional Structure(s), Form and Interpretation: Perspectives from Asian Languages, RoutledgeCurzon, London.

  • Tsai, Wei-Tien Dylan (2003) "Lexical Courtesy Revisited: Evidence from Tsou and Seediq Wh-Constructions," Gengo Kenkyu 123, 331-361.

  • Tsai, Wei-Tien Dylan (2001) "On Subject Specificity and Theory of Syntax-Semantics Interface," Journal of East Asian Linguistics 10, 129-168.

  • Tsai, Wei-Tien Dylan (2001) "On Object Specificity," in Jäger, Gerhard, Anatoli Strigin, Chris Wilder, Niina Zhang (eds.), Papers on Predicative Constructions, ZAS Papers in Linguistics 22, 173-190, ZAS, Berlin.

  • Tsai, Wei-Tien Dylan (2000) "Lexical Courtesy Revisited: Evidence from Tsou and Seediq Wh-Constructions," in Proceedings of the Nanzan GLOW, 407-424, Nanzan University, Nagoya.

  • Tsai, Wei-Tien Dylan (1999) "On Lexical Courtesy," Journal of East Asian Linguistics 8, 39-73.

  • Tsai, Wei-Tien Dylan (1999) "The Hows of Why and The Whys of How," in Francesca Del Gobbo and Hidehito Hoshi (eds.),UCI Working Papers in Linguistics 5, 155-184.

  • Tsai, Wei-Tien Dylan (1998) "Subject Specificity, Copy Theory and Extended Mapping Hypothesis," in Sauerland, Uli and Orin Percus (eds.) The Interpretive Tract, MIT Working Papers in Linguistics 25, 1-28.

  • Tsai, Wei-Tien Dylan (1997) "On the Absence of Island Effects," Tsing Hua Journal of Chinese Studies, New Series 27, 125-149.

  • Tsai, Wei-Tien Dylan (1997) "A Note on Wh-adjunct Asymmetries," Chinese Languages and Linguistics III: Morphology and Lexicon, 469-493.

  • Tsai, Wei-Tien Dylan (1995) "Visibility, Complement Selection and the Case Requirement of CP," Journal of East Asian Linguistics 4, 281-312.

  • Tsai, Wei-Tien Dylan (1994) "On Nominal Islands and LF Extraction in Chinese," Natural Language & Linguistic Theory 12, 121-175.

  • Tsai, Wei-Tien Dylan (1994) "On Matching Syntax-Phonology Mismatches," in Carnie, Andrew, Heidi Harley, and Tony Bures (eds.), Papers on Phonology and Morphology, MITWPL 21, 355-377.

Co-authored

In Chinese

CONFERENCE PAPERS:

In English

  • Tsai, Wei-Tien Dylan (2004) “On Reflexive Doubling,” paper presented at 2nd TEAL International Workshop, National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan.

  • Tsai, Wei-Tien Dylan (2004) “T-feature Checking and Temporal Adjuncts in Formosan Languages,” paper presented in AFLA-11, ZAS, Berlin, Germany, April 2004.

  • Tsai, Wei-Tien Dylan (2002) "Unselective Binding and Various Wide-Scope Effects in Chinese", paper presented in The East Asian Linguistics Forum, Doshisha Biwako Retreat Center, Japan, August 2002.

  • Tsai, Wei-Tien Dylan (2002) "On Causality of Why-questions" paper presented in The First Cognitive Linguistics Conference, National Chengchi University, Taiwan, January 2002.

  • Tsai, Wei-Tien Dylan (2000) "On Object Specificity," paper presented in Workshop on Predicative Constructions, Zentrum für Allgemeine Sprachwissenschaft, Typologie und Universalienforschung, Berlin, October 2000.

  • Tsai, Wei-Tien Dylan (2000) "Deriving Subjacency Effects," paper presented in Linguistics in the Next Decade, Academia Sinica, Taiwan, August 2000.

  • Tsai, Wei-Tien Dylan (2000) "Self, Selfhood, and Nature," paper presented in the Ninth International Conference on Chinese Linguistics, National University of Singapore, Singapore, June 2000.

  • Tsai, Wei-Tien Dylan (2000) "Object Fronting and Focus Placement in Chinese," paper presented in the International Symposium on Topic and Focus in Chinese, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, June 2000.

  • Tsai, Wei-Tien Dylan (1999) " Lexical Courtesy Revisited: Evidence from Tsou and Seediq Wh-Constructions," paper presented in The 2nd GLOW in Asia, Nanzan University, Nagoya, Japan, September 1999.

  • Tsai, Wei-Tien Dylan (1999) "The Hows of Why and the Whys of How," paper presented in the Eighth Annual Meeting of the International Association of Chinese Linguistics, University of Melbourne, Australia, July 1999.

  • Tsai, Wei-Tien Dylan (1998) "On Parametrizing Existential Quantification," paper presented in A Symposium on Diachronic and Synchronic Studies of Syntax of East Asian Languages, University of Southern California, USA, December, 1998.

  • Tsai, Wei-Tien Dylan (1998) "On Typology of Existential Quantification: Evidence from Chinese You 'have' and Object Shift," paper presented in The Joint Meeting of the Seventh Annual Meeting of International Association of Chinese Linguistics and the Tenth North American Conference on Chinese Linguistics, Stanford University, USA.

  • Tsai, Wei-Tien Dylan (1997) "Indefinite Wh's in Formosan Languages and Typology of Wh-Dependencies: Evidence from Seediq and Tsou," paper presented in The Eighth International Conference on Austronesian Linguistics, Academia Sinica, Taiwan.

  • Tsai, Wei-Tien Dylan (1997) "Object Specificity and Theory of Syntax-Semantics Interface," paper presented in The Sixth International Conference on Chinese Linguistics, Rijks Universiteit Leiden, The Netherlands.

  • Tsai, Wei-Tien Dylan (1996) "Copy Theory and the Interpretation of Subject Indefinites," paper presented in The Second International Conference on Formal Approaches to Japanese Linguistics, Tohoku Gakuin University, Japan.

  • Tsai, Wei-Tien Dylan (1996) "Specificity Presuppositionality -- Evidence from Chinese Secondary Predication and Aspectual Licensing," paper presented in The Fifth International Conference on Chinese Linguistics, National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan.

  • Tsai, Wei-Tien Dylan (1996) "Subject Specificity, Raising Modals, and Extended Mapping Hypothesis," paper presented in Symposium on the Referential Properties of Chinese Noun Phrases, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.

  • Tsai, Wei-Tien Dylan (1995) "On the Typology of Wh-in-situ Construals," paper presented in The Joint Meeting of the Fourth International Conference on Chinese Linguistics and Seventh North American Conference on Chinese Linguistics, The University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA.

  • Tsai, Wei-Tien Dylan (1994) "Visibility, Complement Selection and the Case Requirement of CP," the Third International Conference on Chinese Linguistics, The City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.

  • Tsai, Wei-Tien Dylan (1994) "Extended Mapping Hypothesis and the Theory of Syntax-Semantics Interface," The Sixth North American Conference on Chinese Linguistics, University of Southern California, USA.

  • Tsai, Wei-Tien Dylan (1994) "To Move or not to Move -- That is the Question," The Theoretical East Asian Linguistics Workshop, UC Irvine, USA.

  • Tsai, Wei-Tien Dylan (1993) "On Matching Syntax-Phonology Mismatches," The Fifth North American Conference on Chinese Linguistics, University of Delaware, USA.

  • Tsai, Wei-Tien Dylan (1992) "A Note on Zenmeyang Family," The Third International Symposium on Chinese Languages & Linguistics, National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan.

  • Tsai, Wei-Tien Dylan (1992) "On Parametrizing Unselective Binding Effects," The Theoretical East Asian Linguistics Workshop, UC Irvine, USA.

  • Tsai, Wei-Tien Dylan (1992) "The Null Topic Parameter and Discourse-linking," The Fourth North American Conference on Chinese Linguistics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA.


Co-authored

  • Tsai, Wei-Tien Dylan and Chih-Hsiang Shu (2004) “Tense Anchoring and the Incompleteness of Certain Eventuality Sentences: On the Aspectual Construals of Zhe,” paper presented in the 12th International Conference on Chinese Linguistics, Nankai University, Tianjin, China, June 2004.

  • Tsai, Wei-Tien Dylan and Melody Yayin Chang (2003) "Two Types of Wh-Adverbials: A Typological Study of How and Why in Tsou," paper presented in the 2nd Workshop on Formal Syntax and Semantics, Academia Sinica, Taiwan, September 2003.

  • Tsai, W.-T. Dylan and Barry C.-Y. Yang (2002) "On Licensing Universal Quantification in Mandarin Chinese," paper presented in the 11th Annual Meeting of International Association of Chinese Linguistics, Aichi Prefectural University, Nagoya, Japan.

  • Tsai, Wei-Tien Dylan and Ya-Yin Melody Chang (2001) "Two Types of Wh-adverbials -- A Comparative Perspective," paper presented in The Joint Meeting of the Tenth Annual Meeting of International Association of Chinese Linguistics and the Thirteenth North American Conference on Chinese Linguistics, UC Irvine, USA.

  • Ko, Fa-quan Vincent and Wei-tien Dylan Tsai (2001) "Subject-Sensitivity vs. Agent-Sensitivity," paper presented in The Joint Meeting of the Tenth Annual Meeting of International Association of Chinese Linguistics and the Thirteenth North American Conference on Chinese Linguistics, UC Irvine, USA.

  • Tsai, Wei-Tien Dylan and Ya-Yin Melody Chang (2001) "Two Types of Wh-adverbials -- A Comparative Perspective," paper presented in The Eighth Annual Meeting of Austronesian Formal Linguistics Association, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA.

  • Chang, Yung-li and Wei-Tien Dylan Tsai (1998) "Actor-sensitivity and Obligatory Control in Kavalan," paper presented in The Sixth International Symposium on Chinese Languages and Linguistics, Academia Sinica, July 1998.

In Chinese

  • 蔡維天 (2002) 〈普通話和台灣方言中的「有」〉，首屆國際漢語方言語法學術研討會，黑龍江大學，中國。

  • 蔡維天 (2002) 〈談「只」與「連」的形式語意〉，慶祝《中國語文》創刊50週年國際學術研討會，南昌大學，中國。

  • 蔡維天 (2002)〈談「有人」、「有的人」和「有些人」〉，The 2nd International Conference on Formal Linguistics, 湖南大學，中國。

  • 蔡維天 (2001)〈一、二、三〉，第一屆肯特崗國際漢語語言學圓桌會議，新加坡國立大學，新加坡。

  • 蔡維天 (2000)〈從狀語的分佈與詮釋看「語法－認知介面」的問題〉，第七屆中國境內語言暨語言學國際研討會，國立中正大學，台灣。

  • 蔡維天 (2000)〈為甚麼問怎麼樣，怎麼樣問為甚麼〉，臺灣語言學的創造力學術研討會，漢學研究中心，臺灣。

  • 蔡維天 (1998)〈閩南語和台灣國語中的「有」─談句法學中的社會因緣與歷史意識〉，臺灣語言及其教學國際研討會，國立新竹師範學院，臺灣。

  • 蔡維天 (1998)〈談「有」的重析現象－句法學方法論的個案探討〉，語言學研究方法研討會，國立政治大學，臺灣。

  • 蔡維天 (1997)〈臺灣南島語疑問詞的無定用法－噶瑪蘭語、鄒語及賽德克語的比較研究〉，臺灣語言發展學術研討會，國立新竹師範學院，臺灣。

BOOKS:

  • Tsai, Wei-Tien Dylan (1999) On Economizing the Theory of A-Bar Dependencies, Garland Publishing, New York.

EDITED VOLUMES:

  • Tsai, Wei-Tien Dylan and Su-ying Hsiao (2004) Special Issue: Syntax and Semantics, Language & Linguistics 5.1.

  • 蔡維天•連金發 (2002)《梅廣教授榮退論文集(語言篇)》，清華學報，新三十二卷第二期。


Education · Academic Appointments · Visiting Appointments · Academic Service · Academic Grants & Honors