Stadt: Leuven, Belgium

Frist: 2021-06-30

Beginn: 2021-09-01

Ende: 2025-08-31

Stellenumfang: 100%

URL: https://www.kuleuven.be/personeel/jobsite/jobs/60031166

Applications are invited for a PhD fellowship in functional linguistics (Spanish) starting September 2021 at the Department of Linguistics of the University of Leuven.

Project: ‘Speech-act orientation and intersubjective alignment: modal and evidential meanings of Spanish conditional and future forms’

This project is concerned with the modal and evidential meanings of the Spanish conditional and future markers. On the basis corpus evidence the candidate will inquire into their spreading into new territories, semantically and pragmatically, in Peninsular and Latin American varieties of Spanish. The starting point is a set of case studies on the development of un(der)described constructions such as Estaría necesitando un abrazo urgente (Lit. I would be needing a hug urgent ‘I need a hug urgently’), which parody the hearsay conditional to express the speaker’s subjective stance or judgement. The working hypothesis is that the constructional changes follow a tendency towards increasing speech-act orientation. To demonstrate this directionality, we will examine recent stages of change and look into the distribution of epistemic rights and access in the speech situation, the combination of perspectives, and the pragmatic enabling factors for change. We will develop syntactic and semantic-pragmatic arguments grounded in a data-based approach and in statistical models. More information about the project can be requested by e-mail.

Profile
Applicants are expected to have the following qualifications and attitudes:
- an MA in linguistics (or equivalent, e.g. BA Hons), with academic distinction. Students graduating in July 2021 are also encouraged to apply;
- a solid background in the domains of linguistics relevant to the topic of the project, preferably with research experience in Spanish corpus linguistics;
- strong analytical skills and the motivation to pursue descriptively innovative work in linguistics;
- ability to present research results at international conferences, and to publish in peer-reviewed journals;
- expertise and (near-)native competence in Spanish and English;
- demonstrable skills in academic writing.

Offer
- You will be offered a full-time contract, starting with an appointment for one year on a salary of approximately 2.100 EUR/month, which, after positive evaluation, will be extended to four years.
- In addition you will receive all regular provisions for PhD fellows at KU Leuven. You will be allocated office space and a laptop, and receive funding for research activities like attending conferences abroad and organising workshops and conferences in Leuven or elsewhere. KU Leuven offers a number of benefits, such as the possibility of flexible working hours, hospitalisation insurance, eco-vouchers, reimbursement of commuting expenses by public transport, inexpensive meals, and a KU Leuven bicycle, among others.

Interested?
For more information please contact Prof. dr. Maria Sol Sansiñena, mail: mariasol.sansinena@kuleuven.be.

You can apply for this job no later than June 30. Online interviews will be held with shortlisted candidates in the first half of July 2021.

Beitrag von: María Sol Sansiñena

Redaktion: Robert Hesselbach