Jeremy Kuhn | Institut Jean Nicod (CNRS, EHESS, ENS)

ABOUT ME

I am a CNRS researcher, affiliated with the Institut Jean Nicod at the Ecole Normale Supérieure in Paris. I study natural language semantics, with a particular focus on sign language data (including French Sign Language and American Sign Language).

Much of my work investigates the unique properties of the sign language modality (e.g., space, iconicity) in order to inform general questions regarding semantic composition. In the years since my 2015 NYU dissertation, I have have done significant work on the topic of plural dependencies. This work spans from the marking of dependencies in the nominal domain (distributive numerals, same/different) to the marking of plurality and dependency in the verbal domain (pluractionality).

Another thread of my work is based within the framework of dynamic semantics. Dynamic semantics investigates the way that discourse referents are introduced (i.e. those things that can be referred to later by pronouns), as well as the way that logical environments affect the dynamic potential of a linguistic item. In recent work, I pursue the hypothesis that many cases of concord (including negative concord and distributive concord) can be seen as constraints on the way that the logical environment can or must manipulate discourse representations.

In other work, I have investigated the ways in which iconic properties of sign language can inform general cognitive biases underlying natural language semantics. If pre-linguistic cognitive pressures influence semantic typology (i.e. what is attested and what is not), the same pressures should appear in other, extra-linguistic communicative settings, and, in particular, in the interpretation of iconic signs and gestures. We can thus get insights into these cognitive biases by looking at the semantic and iconic typology of sign languages, as well as by looking at the production and interpretation of gestures by non-signers.

I have also been involved in projects on primate communication (more information here), and have done work on phonology. My current CV is available here. Links to my articles can be found below.

ON-GOING GRANTS

Meaning, Gesture, and Sign in Mesoamerica
I am co-PI on a joint CNRS-Arizona grant in collaboration with Robert Henderson (U. Arizona) focusing on village and emerging sign languages in Mesoamerica. There are a large number of small sign languages throughout Mayan-speaking regions of Mesoamerica due to high rates of congenital deafness in various Maya communities (Le Guen 2019). Some of these sign languages incorporate pan-Maya gestures of arguably ancient origin (Fox Tree 2009). The goal of this project is to document the pluractional systems of Mayan sign languages, comparing to co-speech gesture with pluractionals in spoken Mayan languages.

ABOUT ME (Video in ASL)

PAPERS (PUBLISHED OR TO APPEAR)

Sign language semantics [link]
Schlenker, Lamberton, and Kuhn. (2024). Sign language semantics. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Edward N. Zalta & Uri Nodelman (eds.).
Non-signing children’s assessment of telicity in sign language [paper]
Wagner, Geraci, Kuhn, Davidson, and Strickland. (2024). Non-signing children’s assessment of telicity in sign language. Cognition, 249, 105811.
Les langues des signes : en France et à travers le monde [French] [Spanish][English]
Kuhn. (2023). Les langues des signes : en France et à travers le monde. Revista Letras Raras, 12(4), 125-146.
Negative concord in Russian Sign Language [paper][draft]
Kuhn and Pasalskaya. (2023). Negative concord in Russian Sign Language. Natural Language and Linguistic Theory, 41(1), 207-248.
Animal linguistics: a primer [paper]
Berthet, Coye, Dezecache, and Kuhn. (2023). Animal linguistics: a primer. Biological Reviews, 98(1), 81-98.
Deriving dimensions of comparison [paper]
Kuhn, Nicolas, and Buccola. (2022). Deriving dimensions of comparison. Snippets, 43, 1-3.
The dynamics of negative concord [paper][draft]
Kuhn. (2022). The dynamics of negative concord. Linguistics & Philosophy, 45(1), 153-198.
Disjunctive reference in French Sign Language [paper]
Kuhn. (2021). Disjunctive reference in French Sign Language. In Dreier, Kwon, Darnell, and Starr (eds.), Proceedings of Semantics and Linguistic Theory 31 (SALT 31), 104-121.
Timelines and temporal pointing in Chinese Sign Language [paper]
Lin, Kuhn, Sheng, and Schlenker. (2021). Timelines and temporal pointing in Chinese Sign Language. Glossa: a journal of general linguistics, 6(1), 1-21.
Groups vs. covers revisited: Structured pluralities and symmetric readings [paper][draft]
Buccola, Kuhn, and Nicolas. (2021). Groups versus covers revisited: Structured pluralities and symmetric readings. Natural Language Semantics, 29(4), 509-525.
Boundaries in space and time: Iconic biases across modalities [paper][draft]
Kuhn, Geraci, Schlenker, and Strickland. (2021). Boundaries in space and time: Iconic biases across modalities. Cognition, 210, 104596.
Discourse anaphora – theoretical perspectives [draft]
Kuhn. (2021). Discourse anaphora – theoretical perspectives. In Quer, Pfau, and Herrmann (eds.), The Routledge Handbook of Theoretical and Experimental Sign Language Research, 458-479. Routledge.
Logical meaning in space: Iconic biases on quantification in sign languages [paper][draft]
Kuhn. (2020). Logical meaning in space: Iconic biases on quantification in sign languages. Language, 96(4), e320-e343.
Gather/numerous as a mass/count opposition. [paper][draft]
Kuhn. (2020). Gather/numerous as a mass/count opposition. Natural Language Semantics, 28(3), 225-253.
Negative concord as a marker of empty discourse referents. [paper]
Kuhn. (2019). Negative concord as a marker of empty discourse referents. Black, Davis, Rhyne, and Lamp (eds.), Proceedings of Semantics and Linguistic Theory 29 (SALT 29), 341-350.
Pluractionality and distributive numerals. [paper][draft]
Kuhn. (2019). Pluractionality and distributive numerals. Language and Linguistics Compass, 13(2), e12309.
On the -oo suffix of Campbell's monkeys [paper][draft]
Kuhn, Keenan, Arnold, and Lemasson. (2018). On the -oo suffix of Campbell's monkeys. Linguistic Inquiry, 49(1), 169-181.
Dependent indefinites: the view from sign language [paper][draft]
Kuhn. (2017). Dependent indefinites: the view from sign language. Journal of Semantics, 34(3):407-446.
Pluractionality, iconicity, and scope in French Sign Language [paper]
Kuhn and Aristodemo. (2017). Pluractionality, iconicity, and scope in French Sign Language. Semantics and Pragmatics, 10(6), 1-49.
The categorical role of structurally iconic signs [paper][draft]
Strickland, Aristodemo, Kuhn, and Geraci. (2017). The categorical role of structurally iconic signs. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 40, E72.
Review of Herrmann (2013), Modal and focus particles in sign languages [paper][draft]
Kuhn. (2017). Review of Herrmann, Annika (2013) Modal and focus particles in sign languages. A cross-linguistic study (Sign Languages and Deaf Communities 2). Sign Language & Linguistics, 20(1), 129-134.
Formal monkey linguistics [paper][draft]
Formal monkey linguistics: the debate [paper][draft]
Schlenker, Chemla, Schel, Gautier, Fuller, Kuhn, Veselinović, Arnold, Cäsar, Papworth, Murphy, Lemasson, Ouattara, Keenan, Ryder, and Zuberbühler. (2016). Formal monkey linguistics. Theoretical Linguistics, 42(1-2), 1-90.
Classification and automatic transcription of primate calls [paper]
Versteegh, Kuhn, Synnaeve, Ravaux, Chemla, Cäsar, Fuller, Murphy, Schel, and Dunbar. (2016). Classification and automatic transcription of primate calls. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 140(1), EL26-EL30.
ASL Loci: Variables or Features? [paper][draft]
Kuhn. (2016). ASL Loci: Variables or Features? Journal of Semantics, 33(3), 449-491.
Cross-categorial singular and plural reference in sign language [PhD thesis][10p abstract]
Kuhn. (2015). Cross-categorial singular and plural reference in sign language. PhD thesis, NYU, New York, NY.
Harmony via Positive Agreement: Evidence from trigger-based count effects [paper]
Kuhn. (2012). Harmony via Positive Agreement: Evidence from trigger-based count effects. In Huang, Poole, and Rysling (eds.), Proceedings of the 43th conference of the North East Linguistics Society (NELS 43), Vol. 1, 253-264.

MANUSCRIPTS

Kuhn and Lorin. "Hyperlinkuistics." Manuscript. [draft]
Kuhn. "Positive uses of NPIs and logical duality." Manuscript. [draft]
Kuhn. "A new synonymy problem for E-type theories." Manuscript. [draft]
Kuhn. "Telicity and iconic scales in ASL." Manuscript. [draft]

TALKS ON THE WEB

2021. "Les frontières dans l'espace et dans le temps." (in French). Presentation at the Université de Lorraine à Nancy [video]
2020. with L.-M. Lorin. "A superlinguistics of hyperlink 'pointing'." Sinn und Bedeutung 25. [video][slides]
2018. "Telicity and iconic scales in ASL." Argument Structure Across Modalities. [video][slides]
2015. "Language, two ways." TEDx talk at Stuyvesant high school. [video][slides]
2015. with V. Aristodemo. "Iconicity in the grammar: pluractionality in French Sign Language." Sinn und Bedeutung 20; Linguistics Society of America 89. [LSA audio][LSA slides]
2013. "ASL Loci: Variables or Features?" Sinn und Bedeutung 18. [video][handout]

TEACHING

Recent courses

"Natural language ontology: sums, events, and degrees" [course description]

Teaching Resources

Categorial grammar [notes]
Sign language linguistics (LSK Winter Institute course, 2018) [course site]
Sign language linguistics I: phonology and morphology [slides]
Sign language linguistics II: syntax and semantics [slides]
NASSLLI 2016: "New advances in sign language semantics" [course site]
ESSLLI 2015. "The meaning of space: New advances in sign language semantics" [course site]