David Adger (born 23 September 1967) is a Professor of

Linguistics Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...

Queen Mary University of London Queen Mary University of London (QMUL, or informally QM, and formerly Queen Mary and Westfield College) is a public university, public research university in Mile End, East London, England. It is a member institution of the federal University ...

. Adger is interested in the human capacity for

syntax In linguistics, syntax ( ) is the study of how words and morphemes combine to form larger units such as phrases and sentences. Central concerns of syntax include word order, grammatical relations, hierarchical sentence structure (constituenc ...

. Adger served as president of the Linguistics Association of Great Britain from 2015 to 2020.

Early life and education

Adger was born on 23 September 1967 in

Kirkcaldy Kirkcaldy ( ; ; ) is a town and former royal burgh in Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. It is about north of Edinburgh and south-southwest of Dundee. The town had a recorded population of 49,460 in 2011, making it Fife's second-largest s ...

, Fife, Scotland. At the age of eleven Adger became fascinated by language, reading

Ursula K. Le Guin Ursula Kroeber Le Guin ( ; Kroeber; October 21, 1929 – January 22, 2018) was an American author. She is best known for her works of speculative fiction, including science fiction works set in her Hainish universe, and the ''Earthsea'' fantas ...

A Wizard of Earthsea ''A Wizard of Earthsea'' is a fantasy novel written by American author Ursula K. Le Guin and first published by the small press Parnassus in 1968. It is regarded as a classic of children's literature and of fantasy, within which it is widely in ...

. At the age of sixteen, Adger won a school competition coordinated by the

University of St Andrews The University of St Andrews (, ; abbreviated as St And in post-nominals) is a public university in St Andrews, Scotland. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest of the four ancient universities of Scotland and, f ...

and spent the money on copies of

Noam Chomsky Avram Noam Chomsky (born December 7, 1928) is an American professor and public intellectual known for his work in linguistics, political activism, and social criticism. Sometimes called "the father of modern linguistics", Chomsky is also a ...

Aspects of the Theory of Syntax ''Aspects of the Theory of Syntax'' (known in linguistic circles simply as ''Aspects'') is a book on linguistics written by American linguist Noam Chomsky, first published in 1965. In ''Aspects'', Chomsky presented a deeper, more extensive reformu ...

. He studied linguistics and

artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is the capability of computer, computational systems to perform tasks typically associated with human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, perception, and decision-making. It is a field of re ...

at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

. Adger has described his undergraduate teaching as one of the "exhilarating experiences of my life". He remained in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

for his graduate studies, working toward a master's in

cognitive science Cognitive science is the interdisciplinary, scientific study of the mind and its processes. It examines the nature, the tasks, and the functions of cognition (in a broad sense). Mental faculties of concern to cognitive scientists include percep ...

. He completed a doctorate under the supervision of Elisabet Engdahl in 1994. During his doctorate he visited the

University of Massachusetts Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst) is a public land-grant research university in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Massachusetts system and was founded in 1863 as the ...

as a research student. His doctoral research examined the syntax-semantics interface and how syntactic agreement relates to semantic specificity.

Research and career

Adger became a

lecturer Lecturer is an academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. They may also conduct re ...

at the

University of York The University of York (abbreviated as or ''York'' for Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a public Collegiate university, collegiate research university in York, England. Established in 1963, the university has expanded to more than thir ...

in 1993. In 2002 Adger moved to the

, where he had been appointed Reader in Linguistics. He was appointed Professor of Linguistics in 2006. His research considers the science of language, and whether human brains create language because of our ability to recognise patterns or because of a specifically linguistic ability. He has investigated the nature of grammatical structure and the relationship between sociolinguistic theories and syntactic structure. From 2006-9 Adger held a Leverhulme Major Research Fellowship investigating “The Grammar-Meaning Connection”. In 2015, Adger was elected as the seventeenth president of the Linguistics Association of Great Britain. He visited the

University of Maryland, College Park The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD i ...

in 2016, where he delivered a series of lectures discussing minimalist syntax,

semantics Semantics is the study of linguistic Meaning (philosophy), meaning. It examines what meaning is, how words get their meaning, and how the meaning of a complex expression depends on its parts. Part of this process involves the distinction betwee ...

and merge. From 2020-22 Adger held a Leverhulme Major Research Fellowship for his project "Simplifying and Restricting Syntax". In July 2020, Adger was a notable signee on a petition for the removal of

Steven Pinker Steven Arthur Pinker (born September 18, 1954) is a Canadian-American cognitive psychology, cognitive psychologist, psycholinguistics, psycholinguist, popular science author, and public intellectual. He is an advocate of evolutionary psycholo ...

from the Linguistic Society of America’s honorary status as Fellow of the society. Adger has created fictional languages for several television productions, including '' Beowulf: Return to the Shieldlands'' and ''

Nautilus A nautilus (; ) is any of the various species within the cephalopod family Nautilidae. This is the sole extant family of the superfamily Nautilaceae and the suborder Nautilina. It comprises nine living species in two genera, the type genus, ty ...

''.

Selected publications

Papers

* * *

Books

* * * * From 2007 to 2013 Adger served as editor of ''

Syntax In linguistics, syntax ( ) is the study of how words and morphemes combine to form larger units such as phrases and sentences. Central concerns of syntax include word order, grammatical relations, hierarchical sentence structure (constituenc ...

''.

Personal life

Adger is married to Anson W. Mackay, a geographer at

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

. He is a member of 500 Queer Scientists, an organisation that champions

LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...

scientists and engineers. Adger was listed as one

LGBT+ role models in 2018.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Adger, David 1967 births Living people Linguists from Scotland People from Kirkcaldy Scottish LGBTQ scientists Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Academics of the University of York Academics of Queen Mary University of London British LGBTQ academics 21st-century Scottish LGBTQ people