peter grishin
peter grishin
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I'm a postdoctoral associate at the Department of Linguistics and Philosophy at MIT (the linguistics part). Starting July 2025, I will be a visiting assistant professor in linguistics at the Program in Linguistics at Brown University. I got a PhD in linguistics at MIT in 2023, and my dissertation Lessons from CP in Passamaquoddy and beyond examines issues in the morphosyntax of CP in Passamaquoddy-Wolastoqey (Eastern Algonquian), looking at how the presence/absence of CP contributes to the syntactic and semantic properties of different clause types, as well as the unusual phi agreement behavior C displays across the family and its consequences for the theory and typology of agreement phenomena.
I am a syntactician whose primary theoretical interests lie at the interfaces:
How do different modules of the grammar (syntax, semantics, morphology, phonology) work together to generate a typology of possible grammatical phenomena?
How do different kinds of representations get translated from one module to another—what kind of information gets preserved or lost?
How can we diagnose which module holds the "right answer" to solve a particular empirical puzzle?
How can a proper understanding of the interfaces allow for simpler, more minimal theories of each module?
I am also a fieldworker, and much of my work involves working with speakers of Passamaquoddy-Wolastoqey to establish correct descriptive generalizations and understand their broader theoretical and typological consequences.
More specifically, I have worked on the syntax-semantics of clausal embedding and coordination, the syntax of cross-clausal dependencies, the ordering of postsyntactic operations in Distributed Morphology, the morphosyntax of agreement, the morphological reflexes of multiple agreement and multiple case marking, the structure of phi features, the Algonquian inverse, the syntax-semantics of modals, the semantics and pragmatics of future talk, the interaction between evidentiality and the dynamics of assertion, and ellipsis.
I was born and raised in Dallas, Texas. Outside of linguistics, I enjoy cooking, eating, board games, tabletop RPGs, social deception games, and petting cats. In a past life I was an active amateur violinist.
writing
writing
To appear
Grishin, Peter. Accepted. How to agree with the lowest DP. Accepted with minor revisions at Natural Language & Linguistic Theory.
Grishin, Peter. To appear. Clause size, cross-clausal dependencies, and the left periphery. To appear in Canadian Journal of Linguistics.
Published
Grishin, Peter. 2025. Subordinative Long-Distance Agreement in Passamaquoddy-Wolastoqey and the Syntax of the Inverse. In Papers of the 54th Algonquian Conference, eds. Inge Genee, Monica Macaulay, and Natalie Weber, pp. 101–123. East Lansing: MSU Press.
Grishin, Peter and Will Oxford. 2025. Patterns of Portmanteau Robustness across Algonquian. In Papers of the 54th Algonquian Conference, eds. Inge Genee, Monica Macaulay, and Natalie Weber, pp. 125–149. East Lansing: MSU Press.
Grishin, Peter. 2023. Omnivorous third person agreement in Algonquian. Glossa 8(1), pp. 1–46. DOI: https://doi.org/10.16995/glossa.8874
Grishin, Peter. 2023. How to covertly move: Evidence from Passamaquoddy-Wolastoqey. In Proceedings of the 53rd Annual Meeting of the North East Linguistic Society, eds. Suet-Ying Lam and Satoru Ozaki, Vol. 2, pp. 1–10. Amherst, MA: GLSA.
Grishin, Peter. 2022. Assertions without belief: The semantics of partially deniable evidentials. In Proceedings of the 57th Annual Meeting of the Chicago Linguistic Society, eds. Akshay Aitha, Steven Castro, and Brianna Wilson, pp. 135–150. Chicago: Chicago Linguistic Society.
Grishin, Peter. 2021. Scrapping clauses: An anaphor-based approach. In Proceedings of the 38th West Coast Conference on Formal Linguistics, eds. Rachel Soo, Una Y. Chow, and Sander Nederveen, pp. 211–220. Somerville: Cascadilla Press.
In progress
Grishin, Peter and Will Oxford. Submitted. When central suffixes agree with peripheral participants. Submitted to Papers of the 56th Algonquian Conference.
In preparation
Grishin, Peter. In prep. The Ban on Improper Movement is about movement, not Agree or positions: Raising-to-object versus long-distance agreement in Passamaquoddy-Wolastoqey.
Grishin, Peter and Anton Kukhto. In prep. Infixing outward.
Grishin, Peter and Will Oxford. In prep. Three paths to portmanteau agreement: evidence from Algonquian.
Grishin, Peter and Amy Rose Deal. In prep. Realizing multiple valuation.
Grishin, Peter. In prep. Passamaquoddy-Wolastoqey modals.
Unpublished
Grishin, Peter. 2023. Lessons from CP in Passamaquoddy and beyond. Doctoral dissertation, MIT.
Grishin, Peter. 2021. Was going to but wouldn't. Generals paper, MIT.
Grishin, Peter. 2020. Scrapping clauses with clausal anaphors. Generals paper, MIT.
presentations
presentations
Grishin, Peter. 2025. Raising to object versus long-distance agreement: Consequences for Improper Movement. Talk at CLS 61, University of Chicago.
Sun, Zhouyi and Peter Grishin. 2025. The ordering of postsyntactic operations: Evidence from Algonquian. Poster at CLS 61, University of Chicago. [handout and references]
Sun, Zhouyi and Peter Grishin. 2025. Ordering postsyntactic operations within domains. Poster at WCCFL 43, University of Washington. [handout and references]
Grishin, Peter. 2024. Impersonal impersonals and personal third persons: an argument for binary [±PART]. Poster at NELS 55, Yale University. [references]
Grishin, Peter, Elise Newman, and Giovanni Roversi. 2024. Obviation in Passamaquoddy-Wolastoqey: Dependent case? Talk at Understanding obviation: A cross-linguistic perspective, McGill University.
Grishin, Peter. 2024. The syntax and semantics of modality: Evidence from Passamaquoddy-Wolastoqey. Talk at TripleA 11, University of Nantes.
Grishin, Peter. 2024. The syntax and semantics of Passamaquoddy-Wolastoqey modals. Talk at WSCLA 2024, University of Toronto.
Grishin, Peter and Anton Kukhto. 2024. Infixing outward. Poster (talk alternate) at NELS 54, MIT. [paradigms and references]
Grishin, Peter. 2023. Passamaquoddy-Wolastoqey modals. Talk at the 55th Algonquian Conference, University of Alberta.
Grishin, Peter and Will Oxford. 2023. When central suffixes index peripheral participants. Talk at the 55th Algonquian Conference, University of Alberta. [paradigms and references]
Grishin, Peter. 2023. CP-less clauses in Passamaquoddy. Talk at WSCLA 2023, McGill University.
Grishin, Peter and Will Oxford. 2023. Three paths to portmanteau agreement. Poster at WSCLA 2023, McGill University.
Grishin, Peter. 2023. How to covertly move: Evidence from Passamaquoddy-Wolastoqey. Poster at NELS 53, University of Göttingen. [proceedings]
Grishin, Peter. 2022. Subordinative long distance agreement in Passamaquoddy-Wolastoqey and the syntax of the inverse. Talk at the 54th Algonquian Conference, CU Boulder. [proceedings]
Grishin, Peter and Will Oxford. 2022. Patterns of portmanteau robustness across Algonquian. Talk at the 54th Algonquian Conference, CU Boulder. [proceedings]
Grishin, Peter. 2021. Assertions without belief: The semantics of partially deniable evidentials. Talk at CLS 57, University of Chicago. [proceedings]
Grishin, Peter. 2020. Scrapping clauses with clausal anaphors. Talk at GLOW 43, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.
Grishin, Peter. 2020. Scrapping clauses: an anaphor-based approach. Talk at WCCFL 38, UBC. [proceedings]
Tan, Tamisha L. and Peter Grishin. 2020. Three types of (mis)matching in Free Relatives. Talk at the 94th LSA Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA.
Grishin, Peter. 2018. Filling Spec,CP in Zulu. Talk at the 92nd LSA Annual Meeting in Salt Lake City, UT. Organized Session: The Syntax of Clausal Arguments.
teaching
teaching
As instructor of record
24.956, Topics in Syntax (MIT; graduate). Spring 2025.
Co-instructor: David Pesetsky
Topic: Passives and implicit arguments
24.943, Syntax of a Language (Family) (MIT; graduate). Fall 2024.
Family: Algonquian
24.956, Topics in Syntax (MIT; graduate). Spring 2024.
Co-instructor: Elise Newman
Topic: Features
24.902, Language and its Structure II: Syntax (MIT; undergraduate). Fall 2023.
24.909, Field Methods in Linguistics (MIT; undergraduate). Fall 2021.
Language: Azerbaijani
As teaching assistant
24.900, Introduction to Linguistics (MIT; undergraduate). Spring 2022.
Instructor: Norvin Richards
24.952, Advanced Syntax (MIT; graduate). Spring 2021.
Instructor: Athulya Aravind
24.902, Language and its Structure II: Syntax (MIT; undergraduate). Fall 2019.
Instructor: Patrick Elliott
a winter view from outside the Waponahki Museum & Resource Center, Sipayik (Pleasant Point), ME
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