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 Taught
English Usage
Academic Writing
Introduction to Linguistics
Issues in Pragmatics
Discourse Analysis
Linguistic Approaches to Translation
 
Research Interests

Comparative Syntax
Semantics
Chinese Linguistics
Dialectology
Language Change and Variation
Language Endangerment and Conservation

Research Grants

2021-2023. A comparative corpus linguistic study of Cantonese and English yes-no questions and answers in structured and non-structured conversations. Principal Investigator, University Research Grant (URG/21/03), HKSYU.

2021-2022. 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 Publications

Journal Articles

  • Lam, C. under review. Standard negation in Gaozhou Cantonese. Journal of Chinese Linguistics. (first review completed)
  • 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. in prep. Negation in Cantonese. In Andy Chin, Shin Kataoka & Bit-chee Kwok (eds.), The Routledge Handbook of Cantonese Linguistics. Routledge.
  • 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.
Conference Proceedings
 
  • Lam, C. under review. Standard negation and aspectual definiteness: new evidence from Cantonese. Proceedings of the 24th Seoul International Conference on Generative Grammar (SICOGG 24). 
 
Invited Talks

2020   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)

Invited Workshops

2019-2020   English Academic Writing Workshop (5 sessions with graduate students). Department of Linguistics and Translation. The City University of Hong Kong. 

Peer-reviewed Conference Presentations
2022   Standard negation and aspectual definiteness: new evidence from Cantonese. 24th Seoul International Conference on Generative Grammar (SICOGG 24). Korean Generative Grammar Circle. 12-14 August 2022 [online due to pandemic]. 
2022   Revisiting postverbal 'acquire' in Cantonese. 28th Annual meeting of the International Association of Chinese Linguistics (IACL-28). The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong. 20–22 May 2022 [moved online due to pandemic]. 
2021   Postverbal acquisitive modal and related constructions. a parametric approach. 23rd 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. 33rd 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. 24th 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. 7 December 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. 22nd 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. 25th Annual meeting of the International Association of Chinese Linguistics (IACL-25). Budapest, Hungary. 24–28 June 2017.

2017   Croft's negative existential 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. 20th 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. 9th 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. 2nd Asian and European Linguistic Conference (AE-Link 2). Newcastle, United Kingdom. 5–6 December 2014.