Jesus Olguin

Research Interests & Areas

My research straddles the subfields of usage-based linguistics, typology, morphosyntax, semantics, discourse, language documentation and description, corpus linguistics, and language contact.

My work shows that language is a dynamic system, in which constructions have associative connections with one another (a grammar network approach). For instance, in my typological work on complex-sentence systems, I have shown that ‘as if’ constructions share a number of properties with similative ‘like’ constructions, and manner constructions (e.g. ‘the way she left…’). Double ‘without V-ing’ constructions (e.g. ‘she left without paying the bill and without saying goodbye’) share a number of properties with ‘neither…nor’ constructions, and ‘let alone’ constructions. Furthermore, ‘instead of V-ing’ constructions share a number of properties with preference constructions (e.g. ‘it is better to go to the field than…’), To explore this domain, I have used a number of quantitative tools (e.g., Hamming Distance, Multiple Correspondence Analysis) by taking into account discourse, morphosyntactic, and semantic variables. The analysis of the dynamics of complex-sentence systems has led me to propose a number of universals and implicational hierarchies.

Besides analyzing this domain in typological perspective, I have also explored filler-slot relations in individual languages (e.g., Nahuatl, English, Spanish) The distinction between lexicon and syntax has played an important role in linguistic theory. However, the dichotomy of lexicon vs. syntax and their presumed independence has long been challenged in particular by work in the framework of Construction Grammar (e.g., Goldberg 1995). Such work has proposed that the co-occurrence patterns of lexemes and constructions is functionally motivated; for instance, verbs occur in some construction’s slot especially if the verb’s function/meaning is compatible with that of the construction, which gives rise to a joint distribution of lexemes in constructions that are known in the literature as ‘Filler-Slot Relations’. Recently, I have proposed (in collaboration with Stefan Gries) a multivariate extension of collostructional analysis that can be used for exploring the interaction of discourse, syntax, semantics and lexicon in language use. Other attempts have been made to enhance collexeme analysis in a multivariate way. However, their focus has been on fewer dimensions than the ones we consider in our research.


CURRENT WORK
For the most part, typological studies have been based on monologues, and/or elicitation of isolated sentences. In my current research, I show that conversational data can lead us to uncover intriguing discourse functions that can inform our typological theories.

PUBLICATIONS
PEER-REVIEWED JOURNAL PUBLICATIONS

In press Olguín Martínez, Jesús & & Stefan Th. Gries. If not for-if it weren’t/wasn’t for counterfactual constructions: A multivariate extension of collostructional analysis. Cognitive Semantics.

In press Olguín Martínez, Jesús, Alonso Vásquez, & Pilar Valenzuela. Temporal ‘since’ constructions in cross-linguistic perspective. STUF-Language Typology and Universals.

In press Olguín Martínez, Jesús & & Stefan Th. Gries. The similative-pretence alternating pair and filler-slot relations: A revised version of distinctive collexeme analysis. Constructions and Frames.

2024 Olguín Martínez, Jesús & Alonso Vásquez. Counterfactual conditional strategies in some Amazonian languages. LIAMES: Línguas Indígenas Americanas 24. 1-28.

2024 Olguín Martínez, Jesús. Semantically negative clause-linkage: ‘Let alone’ constructions, expletive negation, and theoretical implications. Linguistic Typology 28. 1-52.

2024 Olguín Martínez, Jesús. The interaction of standard negation in clauses of substitution: A typological account. Folia Lingüística 58. 157-190.

2024 Olguín Martínez, Jesús. ‘Until’ clauses and expletive negation in Huasteca Nahuatl. Studies in Language published online January 2024.

2023 Olguín Martínez, Jesús. Temporal adverbial clauses: A cross-linguistic perspective. Lingua Posnaniensis 65. 47-76.

2023 Olguín Martínez, Jesús. Precedence clauses in the world’s languages: Negative markers need not be expletive. STUF-Language Typology and Universals 76. 587-634.

2023 Olguín Martínez, Jesús. ‘Until’ clauses in typological perspective. Rhema 3. 33-64.

2023 Olguín Martínez, Jesús. Areality of clause-linkage: The consecutive construction in Mesoamerican languages. Voprosy Jazykoznanija (‘Topics in the Study of Language’) 3. 122-142.

2023 Olguín Martínez, Jesús & Manuel Peregrina Llanes. ‘Without V-ing’ clauses: Clausal negative concomitance in typological perspective. Folia Linguistica 57. 37-80.

2022 Olguín Martínez, Jesús & Alonso Vásquez. The contribution of Amazonian languages to the typology of purpose clauses. LIAMES: Línguas Indígenas Americanas 22. 1-21.

2022 Olguín Martínez, Jesús. Contact-induced language change: The case of Mixtec adverbial clauses. Journal of Language Contact 15. 1-70.

2021 Olguín Martínez, Jesús & Nicholas Lester. A quantitative analysis of counterfactual conditionals in the world’s languages. Italian Journal of Linguistics 33. 147-182.

2021 Olguín Martínez, Jesús. Hypothetical manner constructions in world-wide perspective. Journal of Linguistic typology at the crossroads 1. 2-33.

2020 Olguín Martínez, Jesús & Zarina Estrada Fernández. Adverbial clauses in Huasteca Nahuatl from a functional-typological approach. LIAMES: Línguas Indígenas Americanas 20. 1-21.

2020 Olguín Martínez, Jesús. Attributive temporal clauses in cross-linguistic perspective. Te Reo. The Journal of the Linguistic Society of New Zealand 63. 1-36.

PEER-REVIEWED CHAPTERS IN EDITED VOLUMES

2019 Olguín Martínez, Jesús, Zarina Estrada Fernández, & Manuel Peregrina Llanes. Dissecting adverbial clauses in Veracruz Huasteca Nahuatl. In Estudios de lenguas amerindias 4. Escenario actual de la investigación sobre lenguas yutoaztecas. Homenaje a Jane H. Hill. Zarina Estrada Fernández, Mercedes Tubino Blanco, & Albert Álvarez González (eds.), 257-280. Universidad de Sonora

2023 Olguín Martínez, Jesús. A typological study of tail-head linkage constructions. In Discourse phenomena in typological perspective, Alessandra Barotto & Simone Mattiola (eds.), 403-432. John Benjamins: Studies in Language Companion Series.

In press Olguín Martínez, Jesús, Bernard Comrie, & Eric W. Campbell. Temporal subsequence in Uto-Aztecan languages. Dependencias Simétricas y Asimétricas: Dominios semánticos y sus motivaciones, Zarina Estrada Fernández, Albert Álvarez González, and Armando Mora-Bustos (eds.). Universidad de Sonora