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David Willis (linguist)

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David Willis
FBA
Born
David W. E. Willis
Occupation(s)Linguist and academic
TitleJesus Professor of Celtic
Academic background
ThesisThe loss of verb-second in Welsh: Study of syntactic change (1996)
Doctoral advisorEllis Evans
Academic work
DisciplineCeltic languages and linguistics
InstitutionsSomerville College, Oxford
University of Manchester
Selwyn College, Cambridge
Jesus College, Oxford
Main interestslanguage change and syntax
Notable worksThe history of negation in the languages of Europe and the Mediterranean

David W. E. Willis is a linguist and Celticist. In 2020 he took up the post of Jesus Professor of Celtic at the University of Oxford.[1] He had previously held posts in historical linguistics at the University of Manchester[2] and at the University of Cambridge, where he was a Fellow of Selwyn College.[3]

He was a Junior Research Fellow at Somerville College, Oxford. In 2022, he was elected a Fellow of the British Academy (FBA), the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and social sciences.[4]

Education

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Willis completed a BA in Russian and German and an MPhil in General Linguistics at St John's College, Oxford before transferring to Jesus College for his DPhil on the history of word order in the Welsh language, completed in 1996.[5] Ellis Evans, one of Willis's predecessors in the Jesus Chair of Celtic, served as his doctoral supervisor.[6]

Research

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Willis's research is in the areas of language change and syntax, with particular reference to the Celtic and Slavic languages as well as to English. The synchronic and diachronic syntax of Welsh has been a particular focus: his first book was on the loss of verb-second in the history of Welsh, and he has co-authored a textbook on the syntax of the present-day language. He is also an expert in the syntax of negation and on Jespersen's cycle cross-linguistically.[3]

Selected publications

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  • Willis, David. 1998. Syntactic change in Welsh: A study of the loss of verb-second. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780198237594
  • Willis, David. 2000. On the distribution of resumptive pronouns and wh-trace in Welsh. Journal of Linguistics 36(3), 531–573.
  • Borsley, Robert, Maggie Tallerman, and David Willis. 2007. The syntax of Welsh. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780511486227
  • Willis, David. 2007. Syntactic lexicalization as a new type of degrammaticalization. Linguistics 45(2), 271–310.
  • Breitbarth, Anne, Christopher Lucas, Sheila Watts, and David Willis (eds.). 2009. Continuity and change in grammar. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. ISBN 9789027255426
  • Willis, David, Christopher Lucas, and Anne Breitbarth (eds.). 2013. The history of negation in the languages of Europe and the Mediterranean, Volume I: Case studies. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199602537
  • Breitbarth, Anne, David Willis, and Christopher Lucas (eds.). 2020. The history of negation in the languages of Europe and the Mediterranean, Volume II: Patterns and processes. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199602544

References

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  1. ^ "Dr David Willis appointed as the new Jesus Chair of Celtic". Archived from the original on 13 April 2020. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  2. ^ "Historical Ling Lectureship, U of Manchester UK". Archived from the original on September 2, 2000. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  3. ^ a b "Dr David Willis". Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  4. ^ "Record number of women elected to the British Academy". The British Academy. 22 July 2022. Retrieved 15 August 2022.
  5. ^ "Professor David Willis". Jesus College, Oxford. Retrieved 18 April 2025.
  6. ^ Willis, David W. E. (1998). Syntactic Change in Welsh: A Study of the Loss of Verb-Second. Oxford: Clarendon Press. p. iv. ISBN 0198237596.
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