Research

As a linguist, I am interested in semantics and its interfaces. More specifically, I investigate the meaning of tense, aspect, and modality. A belief that is woven into my work is the importance of cross-linguistic insights for semantic theory. Along with my native language, English, much of my thinking is informed by my fieldwork on Khalkha Mongolian, and I have the ongoing privilege of collecting semantic data in collaboration with native speakers.

Below, I provide an overview of topics that I consider central to my research, as well as selected references. My full CV can be viewed here.

The semantics of future temporal reference has been of long-standing interest in linguistics and philosophy. How are the meanings of future expressions best modeled, and to what extent does the semantics of the future vary across languages?

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(accepted) Knick, Emily. Proximate futures in English and Turkish: An analogy between spatial and temporal proximity. Talk at North East Linguistics Society 56, New York University.

(2025) Knick, Emily. Future reference and covert modality in Khalkha Mongolian. Proceedings of the Linguistic Society of America, 10(1), 5936. [proceedings]

A well-known property of the perfect aspect is that it can lead to different readings (e.g., the experiential, universal, and resultative perfects). What drives the semantic differences between these readings, and what factors constrain whether a particular reading of the perfect is available in the first place?

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(accepted) Knick, Emily* and Sharf, Eli*. On focus and the perfect aspect. Talk at Sinn und Bedeutung 30, Goethe University Frankfurt.