Dr LAM Chit Yu Cherry
Assistant Professor
Ph.D. in Linguistics, University of Cambridge
M.Phil. in Theoretical and Applied Linguistics, University of Cambridge
B.A. in Linguistics and Language & Communication, The University of Hong Kong
Course TaughtEnglish Usage
Research InterestsComparative Syntax
Semantics
Chinese Linguistics
Dialectology
Language Change and Variation
Language Endangerment and Conservation
Research Grants2021-2022. Study of reading texts in Chinese language education. Co-investigator (PI: Edith Cheung), School of Education and Languages, OUHK.
2021. An exploratory study of yes-no questions in Cantonese and Mandarin: Inventory and functions. Principal Investigator, Research Office, OUHK.
2020-2021. Yes-no questions and answers in natural conversations: A study of Hong Kong Cantonese. Principal Investigator, School of Education and Languages, OUHK.
Selected PublicationsJournal Articles
Lam, C. forthcoming. Rethinking postverbal 'acquire' and related constructions in Cantonese: Polyfunctionality and parameters. Language and Linguistics. (SSCI; scheduled to appear in 2023)
Lam, C. 2018. On the interaction between negation and aspect in grammaticalization: a cross-linguistic study of three Chinese varieties. Current Research in Chinese Linguistics 97(1). 215-232.
Book Chapters
Lam, C. forthcoming. Croft’s Cycle in Mandarin and Cantonese through history and across varieties. In Ljuba Veselinova & Arja Hamari (eds.), The Negative Existential Cycle from a historical-comparative perspective (Studies in Diversity Linguistics Series). Language Science Press.
Lam, C. 2020. Beyond one, two, three: Number matters in classifier languages. In András Bárány, Theresa Biberauer, Jamie Douglas & Sten Vikner (eds.), Syntactic architecture and its consequences I: Syntax inside the grammar, 511–525. Berlin: Language Science Press.
Invited Talks2020 Rethinking polysemy: An all-in-one framework of dak1 in Cantonese. The Open University of Hong Kong RIBiLT seminar series. 23 September 2020.
2016 Cantonese: the biggest endangered language. Cambridge Endangered Languages and Cultures. University of Cambridge. 2 March 2016. (with Ricky Chan)
Peer-reviewed Conference Presentations
2021 Postverbal acquisitive modal and related constructions. a parametric approach. 23^rd Seoul International Conference on Generative Grammar (SICOGG 23). Korean Generative Grammar Circle. 11–13 August 2021 [moved online due to pandemic].
2021 Postverbal “acquire” in Cantonese: a unified analysis. 33^rd North American Conference on Chinese Linguistics (NACCL 33). University of Chicago. 24–25 June 2021 [moved online due to pandemic].
2020 Number matters in Mandarin and Cantonese. 24^th International Conference on Yue Dialects. University of Macau. 13–14 November 2020 [moved online due to pandemic].
2020 Verbal definiteness and presupposition effects in Gaozhou Cantonese standard negation. North American Conference on Chinese Linguistics (NACCL 32). University of Connecticut. 18–20 September 2020 [moved online due to pandemic].
2020 A Chinese negation puzzle revisited: A study of Mandarin and Cantonese varieties. Workshop on Innovations in Cantonese Linguistics (WICL 5). The Ohio State University. 18–19 April 2020 [moved online due to pandemic].
2019 A DP account for variation in classifier dependency in Cantonese and Mandarin. LSHK Annual Research Forum. The Education University of Hong Kong. 7December 2019.
2018 Presupposition effects and standard negation in Gaozhou Cantonese. LSHK Annual Research Forum. City University of Hong Kong. 1 December 2018.
2017 Polyfunctional GET marker in Chinese varieties: a unified account of postverbal DAK. 22^nd International Conference on Yue Dialects. The Education University of Hong Kong. 8–9 December 2017.
2017 The shaping of Mandarin negation - a new perspective from grammaticalisation. 25^th Annual meeting of the International Association of Chinese Linguistics (IACL-25). Budapest, Hungary. 24–28 June 2017.
2017 Croft's negativeexistential cycle and the shaping of the negation system in varieties of Chinese. Negative existential cycle workshop. Stockholm, Sweden. 4–5 May 2017.
2015 On the interaction between negation and aspects in grammaticalisation: a cross-linguistic study of three Chinese varieties. 20^th International Conference on Yue Dialects. The Chinese University of Hong Kong. 11–12 December 2015.
2015 On the shaping of Chinese negation systems – interaction between Croft’s negative-existential cycle and BE/HAVE evolution. 9^th International Conference of the European Association of Chinese Linguistics (EACL 9). Stuttgart, Germany. 24–26 September 2015.
2014 Explaining variation in classifier dependency in Mandarin and Cantonese nouns. 2^nd Asian and European Linguistic Conference (AE-Link 2). Newcastle, United Kingdom. 5–6 December 2014.