Dr. Diane Massam

Biography

Diane Massam (Ph.D. MIT 1985) is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Linguistics at the University of Toronto, where she has served as Chair. Her research focuses on syntax, particularly in relation to the Niue language and register variations in English. She has held prestigious positions including Erskine Fellow at the University of Canterbury, Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Auckland, and Visiting Professor at Harvard University. Massam has also been the President of the Canadian Linguistics Association. Her work has contributed significantly to the understanding of linguistic universals, language diversity, and cross-linguistic variation. She has published numerous articles and books in her field, with a significant focus on syntactic and morphological theory, particularly in relation to Polynesian and Austronesian languages. Her notable publications include insights and discussions on ergativity, word order in Niuean, and the incorporation of pseudo nouns in languages.

Research Interests