Research Bio

Amy Rose Deal is a linguist whose research investigates syntax and semantics in a variety of world languages. She is best known for her work on agreement, indexical shift, and the syntax-semantics interface, particularly through studies of Nez Perce and other Indigenous languages. Deal’s research integrates formal syntax, formal semantics, and field linguistics to advance theories of language universals and linguistic diversity. Her scholarship contributes to both theoretical linguistics and the documentation of endangered languages.

She is Professor of Linguistics at UC Berkeley. Her 2020 book is entitled A Theory of Indexical Shift: Meaning, Grammar, and Crosslinguistic Variation. Her articles have appeared in Linguistic Inquiry, Natural Language and Linguistic Theory, and Language. Deal has received the Linguistic Society of America’s Early Career Award and NSF funding for her fieldwork. She is editor-in-chief of the journal Natural Language Semantics. At Berkeley, she teaches syntax and semantics, mentoring students in theoretical and descriptive linguistics.

Research Expertise and Interest

meaning, grammar, endangered languages, Native American languages, semantics, syntax, word structure, language universals, language variation, Nez Perce language