Hadas Kotek

Apple Park, Cupertino, CA
hkotek at alum.mit.edu

I am a Linguist working at Apple. My role involves improving Siri’s Natural Language Understanding. I received my PhD in Linguistic from MIT in 2014, with a dissertation on the syntax, semantics, and processing of questions. Prior to joining Apple, I was a Lecturer in Semantics at Yale, a Visiting Assistant Professor in Syntax at NYU, and I have held a Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowship at McGill University. My main research specialty lies in generative syntax and its interaction with formal semantics. The goal of my research is to develop an understanding of the inventory of the tools available to the language faculty for the construction of natural language utterances and for their interpretation: What strategies are employed during structure building in the syntax? What additional machinery must the semantics provide in order to interpret these structures? How does this inventory vary cross-linguistically, and how does it manifest itself in online sentence processing? My research employs a variety of experimental techniques, supplemented by elicitation work and traditional judgment work. Some of my recent research topics include the syntax and semantics of wh-questions, Association with Focus, relative clauses, ellipsis, and comparative and superlative quantifiers.

Please visit the about page for more details concerning my research interests and my academic history.

Newest work

Books:

Kotek, Hadas. 2019. Composing Questions. Linguistics Inquiry Monograph series. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Halpert, Claire, Hadas Kotek, and Coppe van Urk (eds.). 2017. A Pesky Set: Papers for David Pesetsky. MIT Working Paper in Linguistics 80. Cambridge, MA: MITWPL.

Journal papers:

Barros, Matthew and Hadas Kotek. Accepted. Ellipsis licensing and redundancy reduction: A focus-based approach. Glossa.
Kotek, Hadas and Michael Yoshitaka Erlewine. 2019. Wh-indeterminates in Chuj (Mayan). The Canadian Journal of Linguistics 64(1): 62–101.
Kotek, Hadas and Matthew Barros. 2018. Multiple sluicing, scope, and superiority: Consequences for ellipsis identity. Linguistic Inquiry 49(4): 781–812.
Erlewine, Michael Yoshitaka and Hadas Kotek. 2018. Covert focus movement with pied-piping: Evidence from Tanglewood. Linguistic Inquiry 49(3): 441–463.

Proceedings papers:

Phillips, Josh and Hadas Kotek. 2019. Updates & discourse anaphora: a dynamic approach to otherwise. Proceedings of the North East Linguistic Society (NELS) 49.
Erlewine, Michael Yoshitaka and Hadas Kotek. 2018. Focus association by movement: Evidence from binding and parasitic gaps. Proceedings of Sinn und Bedeutung (SuB) 21.
Kotek, Hadas and Michael Yoshitaka Erlewine. 2018. Non-interrogative wh-constructions in Chuj (Mayan). Proceedings of the Workshop on the Structure and Constituency of the Languages of the Americas (WSCLA) 21.

Recent and upcoming presentations

Intervention tracks scope-rigidity in Japanese and English. Workshop on Approaches to Wh-Intervention, National University of Singapore, June 2019.
Diagnosing covert syntax: Lessons from wh-in-situ. Colloquium talk; Yale University, April 2019; University of Pennsylvania, January 2019.
Semantic Identity under Discussion. Invited talk, Sluicing+@50, University of Chicago, April 2019 (with Matt Barros).
Some issues with sluicing as anaphora to issues (with Matt Barros).
- Linguistic Society of America (LSA) 93, New York City, January 2019.
- West Coast Conference on Formal Linguistics (WCCFL) 36, University of California, Los Angeles, April 2018.
Updates & discourse anaphora: a dynamic approach to ‘otherwise’ (with Josh Philips; handout).
- North East Linguistic Society (NELS) 49, Cornell University, October 2018 .
- Linguistic Society of America (LSA) 92, Salt Lake City, UT, January 2018.

Recorded talks

Ellipsis licensing in sluicing: A QuD account (with Matthew Barros; handout, slides, video feed).
- Chicago Linguistic Society (CLS) 53, University of Chicago, May 2017.
- Multiple questions about sluicing, Yale University, April 2017;
- GLOW workshop on compositionality at the interfaces, Leiden University, March 2017;
Diagnosing covert movement. Panel on questions, workshop for David Pesetsky. MIT Department of Linguistics, February 2017. (handout, slides, video feed, starting at 1:15:30).

Additional details about these and other papers and presentations can be found on my publications page. To read more about my various projects, visit the research page.

For the most up to date list of my presentations and publications, please consult my CV.