Toby Lowther

My primary research interests are in formal theories of language, focusing on syntax (how the structures of sentences are constrained), semantics (how meanings are computed), and the intersections thereof. My DPhil project, supervised by Dr. Louise Mycock, focuses on an analysis of bilingual code-switched sentences through the lens of Lexical-Functional Grammar (LFG), a non-derivational, constraint-based framework for generative grammar. My other projects include developing the theory of objecthood in LFG, given the problematic case of object-symmetric languages; and studying the role of discourse coherence in the semantic restrictions on pronominal anaphora, with a particular focus on providing a discourse-based solution to the problem of paycheck pronouns for dynamic theories of pronominal semantics.

I am a member of Wolfson College (formerly Balliol and Univ), and I am currently teaching one of the Graduate Foundations Semantics & Pragmatics Practicals. Previously, I taught Prelims Grammatical Analysis tutorials for students at Magdalen, St. Hilda’s and St. John’s colleges.

For more details about my current work, teaching, and recent papers, see my website.