Teresa ONeill

Contact
Information

College of Staten Island, CUNY

Department of English
2800 Victory Blvd.
Staten Island, NY 10314
917-710-7591
teresa.oneill@csi.cuny.edu

Research
Interests

My research focuses on the structure and meaning of language, especially the nature
of clausal finiteness. My dissertation examined the structure and meaning of specificational copular sentences, like She needs a vacation is what she needs, and how they
differ from other copular sentence types in their expression of finiteness. This work
studies variation in English, and variation across languages. I am also keenly interested in documenting and analyzing endangered languages. I have worked on Garifuna,
Lubukusu, Totonac, and more recently, Danyi Ewe.

Education

The Graduate Center, City University of New York

Ph.D., Linguistics, May 2015
Dissertation: The domain of Finiteness: Anchoring without Tense in English copular
amalgam sentences
Committee Chair: Prof. Marcel den Dikken
Gonzaga University, Spokane, WA
B.A., suma cum laude, May 2007
International Studies, French, Spanish, German minor

Position

20152016

Substitute Lecturer in Linguistics, Department of English

College of Staten Island, CUNY

Fellowships and
Grants

2014 2015

Innovations in Language Education Grant (Institute for Language

Education in Transcultural Context)
Project: Engaging understudied languages through a science-core
linguistics class
Co-Principal Investigator: Ignacio Montoya

2013 2014

Doctoral Student Research Grant (CUNY Graduate Center)

Project: The equative copula as a conjunction

2011 2012

CUNY Writing Fellowship (CUNY School of Law)

2007 2012

Enhanced Chancellors Fellowship (CUNY Graduate Center))

2009 2010

Doctoral Student Research Grant (CUNY Graduate Center)

Project: Variation in Spanish wh- interrogatives in New York City

2008 2009

University Fellowship (CUNY Graduate Center)

Curriculum Vitae, Teresa ONeill, 1

In revisions

The structure of English amalgam pseudoclefts.

To appear

Experimental evidence for a tenseless declarative clause type in

English. In Texas Linguistic Society XV Proceedings.

2015

Demystifying double-is. In Penn Working Papers in Linguistics,

Proceedings of PLC38, 21.1. University of Pennsylvania.

2011

The syntax of ne...que exceptives in French. In New York University Working Papers in Linguistics, 3:199230, eds. Neil Myler and
Jim Wood. New York University. [Refereed version]

2011

The syntax of ne...que exceptives in French. In Penn Working Papers in Linguistics, Proceedings of PLC34, 17.1:175184. University
of Pennsylvania.

2008

Garrison-Fletcher, Leigh, Carolina Barrera-Tobon, Teresa Fredericks, Elaine Klein, Gita Martohardjono, Edmund ONeill, and
Roco Ra
na. Literacy development among New York City Latino
students. In Proceedings from the 14th Congreso Internacional de
la ALFAL.

Edited Volume

To appear

Selected Papers from the 43rd Linguistic Symposium on Romance

Languages. Eds. Tortora, Christina, Marcel den Dikken, Ignacio
Montoya, and Teresa ONeill. Romance Languages and Linguistic
Theory Series. John Benjamins.

Conference
Presentations

2015

Separating Finiteness from Tense in copular sentences. Poster presented at the Workshop on Copulas Across Languages. University
of Greenwich, London. June 1819, 2015.

2015

Tortora, Christina, Frances Blanchette, Teresa ONeill, Steven Arriaga. Variation in Appalachian verb forms: Evidence for a general past. Paper presented at Formal Ways of Analyzing Variation
(FWAV2). University of Iceland. May 28, 2015.

2015

Montoya, Ignacio and Teresa ONeill. Engaging understudied languages through a science-core linguistics class. Presented at the Research Institute for the Study of Language in Urban Society (RISLUS) Institute for Language Education in Transcultural Context
(ILETC) Forum. City University of New York. May 8, 2015.

2015

A Topic Time coreference analysis of tense harmony in pseudoclefts. Poster presented at the Annual Meeting of the Linguistic
Society of America. Portland, OR. January, 2015.

2014

Author-anchored clauses in English. Paper presented at the 15th

meeting of the Texas Linguistic Society. University of Texas at
Austin. October, 2014.

2014

Demystifying double-is. Poster presented at the 38th Penn Linguistics Colloquium. University of Pennsylvania. March, 2014.

Publications

Curriculum Vitae, Teresa ONeill, 2

Invited
Presentations

Other Talks

2013

Thats what copular amalgams are, is theyre coordinate structures.

Paper presented at the Fifth International Conference on the Linguistics of Contemporary English. University of Texas at Austin.
September, 2013.

2013

Tortora, Christina, Frances Blanchette, and Teresa ONeill. Variation in Appalachian verb forms: Evidence for a general past. Fifth
International Conference on the Linguistics of Contemporary English. University of Texas at Austin. September, 2013.

2013

Equating sentences: A type-shifting operation on propositions.

Mid-Atlantic Colloquium of Studies in Meaning. Johns Hopkins
University. April, 2013.

2011

Specificational copula and IP-initial pseudoclefts. Paper presented

at SUNY, Yale, NYU, CUNY Mini-Conference (SYNC 2011). New
York University. December, 2011.

2010

Nothing but ellipsis: the syntax and semantics of French ne...que

exceptives. Paper Presented at Penn Linguistics Colloquium
(PLC34). University of Pennsylvania. March, 2010.

2010

Nothing but ellipsis: the syntax and semantics of French ne...que

exceptives. Paper presented at Georgetown Linguistics Society 2010
(GLS2010). Georgetown University. February, 2010.

2014

The English copula in the left periphery: non-canonical complementation patterns. The Graduate Center, CUNY. November, 2014.

2014

English copular amalgam sentences: implications for the structure of Finiteness. Yale University. September, 2014.

2014

Finiteness without tense in English copular clauses. SUNY Stony

Brook. April, 2014.

2012

Alternative discussion methods: involving your students in online discussion in the Education and Arts and Humanities classroom. Panelist, 2nd Annual Faculty Technology Demonstration
Day: Blending with Purpose. Lehman College. April, 2012.

2011

What the problem is is is is. Blanchette, Frances and Teresa

ONeill. Presented at Showcasing Quirky and Unusual Ideas in Development. CUNY Graduate Center. March, 2011.

2011

Linguistics. Guest lecture, Visiting Professors Week. Townsend

Harris High School. Flushing, NY. April, 2011.

2010

Singular they and agreement mismatches. Paper presented at

Showcasing Quirky and Unusual Ideas in Development. CUNY
Graduate Center. February, 2010.

Curriculum Vitae, Teresa ONeill, 3

Manuscripts

Teaching
Experience

In prep.

den Dikken, Marcel and Teresa ONeill. Copular constructions. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Linguistics, ed. Mark Aronoff. Oxford University Press.

In prep.

ONeill, Teresa and Marcel den Dikken. And how a paratactic

analysis of agreeing how in Lubukusu. Reply to Carstens and
Diercks 2013.

In prep.

Kaufman, Daniel and Teresa ONeill. Agreement and complementation in Garifuna.

2012

Coordination in English copular amalgams. Second Qualifying Paper, CUNY Graduate Center.

2015

College of Staten Island, CUNY

Introduction to Language

2015

Columbia University
Syntax

2009 2015

Queens College, CUNY

Courses designed:
Analyzing Language
Issues in Linguistic Research: Languages of the World
Issues in Linguistic Research: Endangered and Minority Languages
Language in Context
Morphology (pending administrative approval)
Other courses taught:

2015

Introduction to Language (undergraduate and graduate online)

The Syntactic Structure of English (1 & 2)
The Structure of English Words
Bilingualism (undergraduate and graduate)
Seminar in the Humanities (College Preparatory Program, Writing Intensive)

Brooklyn College, CUNY

Applied Linguistics (graduate)

2008 2013

Lehman College, CUNY

Courses designed:
Multilingualism in New York City (Online, Writing Intensive)
Language in Society (Writing Intensive)
Other courses taught:
Spanish 1
Spanish 2

Curriculum Vitae, Teresa ONeill, 4

2011

Fordham University Graduate School of Education

Courses designed:
Teaching the Structure of English
The Development of Oral Communication Skills in Second Language Learners

2007 2011

LaGuardia Community College, CUNY

Courses taught:
Elementary Spanish 1
Elementary Spanish 2
Introduction to Language

2011

The Graduate Center, CUNY

Graduate Practicum Leader: Semantics 1

2010

Westchester Community College

Basic Writing 2 (ESL and remedial composition)

2009

The State University of New York at New Paltz

Courses designed:
Phonology
Introduction to Linguistics

2008

The CUNY Graduate Center Language Reading Program

Instructor: French for Reading Knowledge, Level 2

2008

Technical Career Institutes

Courses:
ESL Composition
ESL Grammar
ESL Oral Communication

Research and
Professional
Experience

2010

Endangered Language Alliance

Position: Volunteer
Activities: Urban linguistic fieldwork; transcribe and analyze data
in Praat; develop language databases in FieldWorks Language Explorer; prepare glossed texts; develop pedagogical materials
Projects: Garifuna, Totonac, Tlapanec/Mephaa

2012 2014

Natural Language and Linguistic Theory

Position: Editorial Assistant
Editor-in-Chief: Marcel den Dikken
Duties: Copy-edit manuscripts; manage copy-flow; develop style
guide; manage queries from authors, reviewers, and editors

2011 2012

CUNY School of Law

Position: Writing Fellow
Duties: Support Writing Across the Curriculum at the School of
Law; collaborate with faculty to develop legal writing pedagogy;
provide legal writing workshops; work with students to develop
academic and professional writing skills
Curriculum Vitae, Teresa ONeill, 5

2007 2009

Research Institute for the Study of Language in Urban Society

Position: Research Assistant
Projects:
Understanding the Student with Interrupted Formal Education
(SIFE). A longitudinal study of SIFE skills, needs and achievement in different instructional settings. (Principal Investigators:
Dr. Elaine Klein and Dr. Gita Martohardjono)
Using Temporal Markers in Standard American English (Principal Investigators: Dr. Elaine Klein and Dr. Gita Martohardjono)
Bridging the gap between comprehension and production in second language learning (Principal Investigator: Dr. Nel de Jong)

Academic
Service

Languages

2003 2009

Freelance Translator
Activities: Spanish to English and French to English translation of
product labels, advertisements, forensic reports, genealogical documents, and personal correspondence

2001 2008

Forensic Video Solutions Spokane, WA

Position: Translator, Transcription Specialist
Activities: Translation; transcription of audio evidence for court
purposes; subtitling; forensic evidence processing

2014

Reviewer, Natural Language & Linguistic Theory

2013

Organizing Committee, 43rd Linguistic Symposium on Romance

Languages (CUNY Graduate Center)

2009 2011

Committee Member, Syntax Supper (CUNY Graduate Center)

2010

Reviewer, New York University Working Papers in Linguistics 3

2008 2009

Committee Member, Admissions Committee (CUNY Graduate

Center)

2008

Reviewer, CUNY, SUNY, NYU, Yale Mini-Conference

Native: English
Fluent: French, Spanish
Fair: Italian, German
Fieldwork: Garifuna, Lubukusu, Kinande, Totonac, Danyi Ewe

Curriculum Vitae, Teresa ONeill, 6