Jessica Coon
Jessica Coon | |
|---|---|
| Scientific career | |
| Alma mater | |
| Fields | Syntax, indigenous languages |
| Thesis | Complementation in Chol (Mayan): A Theory of Split Ergativity (2010) |
| David Pesetsky | |
| Website | jessica |
Jessica Coon is a James McGill Professor of Linguistics at McGill University[1] She was the linguistics expert consultant for the 2016 film Arrival.[2][3]
Coon works on syntactic theory and cross-linguistic variation with a focus on Mayan languages. She has published work on topics including ergativity, split ergativity, verb-initial word order, case and agreement, and nominalization.[4] She has also published research on topics in Mi'gmaq (Algonquian) and Kanien'kéha (Northern Iroquoian). In addition to research in syntactic theory, she has co-led grant-funded projects which collaborate with language speakers and learners to contribute to language revitalization initiatives.[5]
Early life and education
[edit]Coon received her PhD from MIT in 2010 with a dissertation on aspect-based split ergativity, with a focus on the Ch'ol (Mayan) language, and cross-linguistic extensions.[6]
Coon received her BA in linguistics-anthropology from Reed College in May 2004.[7]
Key publications
[edit]- Coon, Jessica and Stefan Keine (2021). ‘Feature gluttony .’ Linguistic Inquiry, 52, 4: 655–710.
- Coon, Jessica, Nico Baier, and Theodore Levin (2021). ‘Mayan Agent Focus and the Ergative Extraction Constraint: Facts and Fictions Revisited.’ Language, 97, 2: 269–332. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/lan.2021.0019.
- Coon, Jessica and Lauren Clemens (2018). 'Deriving verb-initial word order in Mayan.' Language, 94,2: 237–280.
- Coon, Jessica (2017). Ch’ol. The Mayan Languages, eds. Judith Aissen, Nora England, and Roberto Zavala. London: Routledge.[8]
- Coon, Jessica, Pedro Mateo Pedro, and Omer Preminger (2014). 'The role of case in A-bar extraction asymmetries: Evidence from Mayan.' Linguistic Variarion, 14,2: 179–242.
- Coon, Jessica (2013). Aspects of Split Ergativity. New York: Oxford University Press.[9]
References
[edit]- ↑ "Provost honours 31 McGill professors for exceptional research achievements". McGill Reporter. Retrieved 26 June 2026.
- ↑ "CTV National News: The McGill prof who taught filmmakers to speak alien". CTVNews. Retrieved 2016-11-26.
- ↑ "The Scientist Who Helped Amy Adams Talk to Aliens in "Arrival" - Facts So Romantic - Nautilus". Nautilus. 2016-11-11. Retrieved 2016-11-26.
- ↑ "GoogleScholar Publications for Jessica Coon". GoogleScholar. Retrieved 26 June 2026.
- ↑ "Jessica Coon". jessica.lingspace.org. Retrieved 2026-06-26.
- ↑ (MITWPL), MIT Working Papers in Linguistics. "Complementation in Chol (Mayan): A Theory of Split Ergativity | MITWPL". mitwpl.mit.edu. Retrieved 2016-11-26.
- ↑ "CV | Jessica Coon". jessica.lingspace.org. Retrieved 2017-02-27.
- ↑ "Ch'ol. Jessica Coon, McGill University" (PDF). Retrieved 2017-02-27.
- ↑ Coon, Jessica (2013). Aspects of Split Ergativity. Oxford Studies in Comparative Syntax. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199858743.
External links
[edit]- Academic homepage
- Jessica Coon publications indexed by Google Scholar
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Academics | |
| Other | |
- Linguists from the United States
- Linguists from Canada
- Syntacticians
- Women linguists
- Living people
- 21st-century linguists
- Linguists of Algic languages
- Linguists of Mesoamerican languages
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni
- Reed College alumni
- Academic staff of McGill University
- 21st-century Mesoamericanists