Terry Meyers, Chair, English Department, College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA 23187. Applicants should already have a PhD in Linguistics, or be about to obtain one. The project aims to study the main grammatical categories found in human languages and provide a characterisation of the parameters of variation concerning their realisation, function and meaning. It will also enquire why certain languages have certain categories, organised in the way they are, looking both at interrelations between category types and for interrelations between grammatical categories and extralinguistic factors such as ecological environment, socio-political organisation, economic basis, and lifestyle. Australian libraries have fair collections of books on African languages, but it is expected that the Research Associate will need to make a trip to libraries in the Northern Hemisphere, partway through his year with us.
Funds are available to finance such a trip.
An allowance will be made to cover travelling expenses to and from Australia at the beginning and end of the period of employment. Applicants may, if they wish, also send copies of published or unpublished papers. The university has a strict 'no-smoking' policy in all University buildings and vehicles. The university is an equal opportunity employer. Thorough professional training in linguistics, with special reference to language description and linguistic typology.