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I defended my thesis about word formation and syntax in 1997. Afterwards I worked in a project about language acquisition, held a post doc position, became assistant professor in Scandinavian languages 2001, and full professor in Swedish 2007. I have also worked on dialects, language history and the didactics of grammar. I presently work on gender systems in Swedish and related languages, as well as information structure.
I have been deputy head of Dept of Scandinavian languages, and also been in committees at faculty level. I am presently in the Ph.D. committee at the Faculties of Humanities and Theology. During 2009-2010 I have been engaged in projects at the national level, involving a new high school syllabus for Swedish, and the evaluation of Scandivian languages/Swedish at Swedish universities. I have been a member of The Expert Group Nordic Language Council (ENS), which is part of the Nordic Council of Ministers.
Research
Thesis projects
Completed projects
About the research
My main research area presently is the interface between prosody and syntax. I work in a generative framework, and in this tradition the mainstream idea is that syntax feeds prosody. The new ideas that come forward reverse this order, and assumes that at least some word order phenomena can be explained in terms of prosody feeding word order. According to a strong version of this view, all word order phenomena are triggered by prosody, which is an exciting prospective, although we are not there yet. I have worked for some time in a project, together with Nomi Erteschik-Shir, Ben Gurion University, and Björn Köhnlein, Ohio State University, in a project where we try to explain Object Shift, especially why it is obligatory in some of the Mainland Scandinavian varieties, but optional in others in terms of prosody.
Another project, where I work together with Katarina Lundin deals with teaching and learning grammar at university level. Many students find the subject very difficult, and in our project we try to find out exactly what moments or line of thoughts that make it so hard. We are in the process of writing a book where we present our findings. Hopefully this will help teachers of Swedish, teacher students and other students in learning grammar.
A small project is to explain the substandard plural form -sar, for example bastusar ’saunas’ and avokadosar ’avocados’ (cf. the singular forms bastu and avokado). Here too I present an explanation in terms of properties of the interface between phonology and morphology.
Publications
Books (10)
- Josefsson, G. (submitted). Gender in Scandinavian : On the gender systems in Mainland Scandinavian, with focus on Swedish.
- Josefsson, G. & Lundin, K. (2018). Nycklar till grammatik. Studentlitteratur.
- Josefsson, G. (2014). Berättelser om en by : Dannäs från inlandsis till väckelsetid. Atremi.
- Josefsson, G. (2009). Svensk universitetsgrammatik för nybörjare. Studentlitteratur AB.
- Josefsson, G. (2009). Svensk universitetsgrammatik för nybörjare. Övningar med facit och kommentarer. Andra upplagan. Studentlitteratur AB.
- Lena, B. & Josefsson, G. (2006). Vägar till grammatik. Studentlitteratur AB.
- Josefsson, G. (2005). Ord. Studentlitteratur AB.
- Josefsson, G. (2003). Svensk universitetsgrammatik för nybörjare. Övningar med facit och kommentarer. Studentlitteratur AB.
- Josefsson, G. (2001). Svensk universitetsgrammatik för nybörjare. Studentlitteratur AB.
- Josefsson, G. (1997). On the principles of word formation in Swedish. Lundastudier i nordisk språkvetenskap, 51. Lund University Press. Dissertation.
Editorships (5)
- Josefsson, G. (2013). (Ed.) Perspektiv på genus. Nordlund, 32.
- Josefsson, G. (2008). (Ed.) Syntax i gränssnittet : tre uppsatser i gränsområdet mellan lexikon, syntax och semantik. Nordlund, 29.
- Delsing, L.-O., Josefsson, G., Sigurðsson, H. A. & Falk, C. (2003). (Eds.) Grammatik i fokus : festskrift till Christer Platzack den 18 november 2003 : Grammar in focus : festschrift for Christer Platzack 18 November 2003. Vol. 2.
- Delsing, L.-O., Josefsson, G., Sigurðsson, H. A. & Falk, C. (2003). (Eds.) Grammatik i fokus : festskrift till Christer Platzack den 18 november 2003 = Grammar in focus : festschrift for Christer Platzack 18 November 2003. Vol. 1. Institutionen för nordiska språk, Lunds universitet.
- Josefsson, G., Platzack, C. & Håkansson, G. (2003). (Eds.) The acquisition of Swedish grammar. Language acquisition & language disorders; 33. John Benjamins Publishing Company.
Articles (14)
- Josefsson, G., Erteschik-Shir, N. & Köhnlein, B. (submitted). Variation in Mainland Scandinavian Object Shift and Prosodic Repair. Linguistic Inquiry. MIT Press.
- Josefsson, G. (2018). Avokadosar och kepsar : ett epentetiskt s med olika funktioner. Språk och stil, 28, 5-21. Institutionen för nordiska språk, Uppsala universitet.
- Josefsson, G. & Lundin, K. (2017). Tröskelbegrepp inom grammatiken. Högre utbildning, 7, 18-34. Swednet.
- Josefsson, G. (2014). Pancake sentences and the semanticization of formal gender in Mainland Scandinavian. Language Sciences, 43, 62-76. Elsevier.
- Josefsson, G. (2014). Scandinavian gender and pancake sentences : A reply to Hans-Olav Enger. Nordic Journal of Linguistics, 37, 431-449. Cambridge University Press.
- Josefsson, G. (2010). "Disagreeing" pronominal reference in Swedish and the interplay between formal and semantic gender. Lingua, 120, 2095-2120. Elsevier.
- Josefsson, G. (2010). There is no OBJECT SHIFT, just a GENERAL SHIFT, and independent constraining principles. Tampa Papers in Linguistics, 1, 13-29. Department of World Languages, University of South Florida.
- Josefsson, G. (2009). Peas and pancakes. On apparent disagreement and (null) light verbs in Swedish. Nordic Journal of Linguistics, 32, 35-72. Cambridge University Press.
- Josefsson, G. (2009). Sydvästsvensk a-genitiv - en levande relikt. Arkiv för nordisk filologi, 124, 187-235. ANF.
- Josefsson, G. (2007). Riddare Nils - från Dannäs eller rättfärdig. Historisk Tidskrift, 457-473. Svenska historiska föreningen.
- Josefsson, G. (2006). Semantic and grammatical genders in Swedish – independent but interacting dimensions. Lingua, 116, 1346-1368. Elsevier.
- Josefsson, G. (2002). The use and function of non-finite clauses in Swedish child language. Language Acquisition: A Journal of Developmental Linguistics, 14, 273-320. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
- Josefsson, G. (2001). The meaning of lexical classes. Nordic Journal of Linguistics, 24, 218-231. Cambridge University Press.
- Josefsson, G. (2001). Var Embla en klängranka? Om den fornnordiska skapelsemyten såsom den möter oss i Völuspá. Arkiv för nordisk filologi, 116, 71-96. ANF.
Book chapters (8)
- Erteschik-Shir, N. & Josefsson, G. (2018). Scandinavian object shift is phonology. In Bailey, L. R. & Sheenan, M. (Eds.) Order and structure in syntax I: Word order and syntactic structure (pp. 99-115). Language Science Press.
- Josefsson, G. (2012). What's first?: on the left periphery in Swedish declaratives. In Brandtler, J., Håkansson, D., Huber, S. & Klingvall, E. (Eds.) Discourse & Grammar : A Festschrift in Honor of Valéria Molnár (pp. 359-372). Centre for Languages and Literature, Lund University.
- Håkansson, D. & Josefsson, G. (2010). Hur står det till med hierarkin. In Byrman, G., Gustafsson, A. & Rahm, H. (Eds.) Svensson och svenskan: med sinnen känsliga för språk.
- Josefsson, G. (2003). Four myths about Object Shift in Swedish – and the Truth…. In Delsing ,..., L.-O. (Ed.) Grammatik i fokus : festskrift till Christer Platzack den 18 november 2003 = Grammar in focus : festschrift for Christer Platzack 18 November 2003. Vol. II. Institutionen för nordiska språk, Lunds universitet.
- Josefsson, G. (2003). Input and output : Sentence Patterns in Child and Adult Grammar. In Josefsson, G., Platzack, C. & Håkansson, G. (Eds.) The Acquisition of Swedish Grammar (Language acquisition & language disorders; 33) (pp. 95-133). John Benjamins Publishing Company.
- Josefsson, G. (2003). Non-target structures and non-target uses in child and adult Swedish. In Josefsson, G., Platzack, C. & Håkansson, G. (Eds.) The Acquisition of Swedish Grammar (Language acquisition & language disorders; 33) (pp. 155-193). John Benjamins Publishing Company.
- Platzack, C. & Josefsson, G. (2003). Chapter 1, Introduction. In Josefsson, G., Platzack, C. & Håkansson, G. (Eds.) The Acquisition of Swedish Grammar (Language acquisition & language disorders; 33) (pp. 1-21). John Benjamins Publishing Company.
- Josefsson, G. (1999). On the semantics and syntax of Scandinavian pronouns and object shift. In van Riemsdijk, H. (Ed.) Clitics in the Languages of Europe (pp. 731-757). Mouton de Gruyter.
Conference contributions (9)
- Santesson, S., Hetherington, L., Josefsson, G., Lindstedt Cronberg, M., Nillasdotter, K., Smaragdi, M. & Wadsö-Lecaros, C. (2018). Studenters skrivande : Brister, förväntningar, ansvar. In Bergqvist Rydén, J. & Larsson, M. (Eds.) Om samverkan, mångfald och mellanmänskliga möten : Proceedings från Lunds universitets pedagogiska utvecklingskonferens 2017 (pp. 121-127). Avdelningen för högskolepedagogisk utveckling, Lunds universitet.
- Santesson, S., Josefsson, G., Lindstedt Cronberg, M., Nillasdotter, K., Smaragdi, M. & Wadsö-Lecaros, C. (2017). Studenters skrivande - brister, förväntningar, ansvar.
- Pelger, S., Santesson, S. & Josefsson, G. (2010). Populärvetenskapligt skrivande som didaktiskt redskap.
- Pelger, S., Santesson, S. & Josefsson, G. (2010). Populärvetenskapligt skrivande som didaktiskt redskap.
- Josefsson, G. (2009). Peas and pancakes: On apparent disagreement and (null) light verbs in Swedish. Nordic Journal of Linguistics, 32, 35-72. Cambridge University Press.
- Pelger, S., Josefsson, G. & Santesson, S. (2009). Hur lär sig naturvetare kommunicera med icke-experter?. In Sonesson, A. & Amnér, G. (Eds.) Proceedings Utvecklingskonferens Lunds universitet 2009 (pp. 37-40). Lednings- och kompetensutveckling/CED.
- Håkansson, D. & Josefsson, G. (2007). Självvärdering och självbedömning: en möjlig väg mot en ökad individualisering?.
- Josefsson, G. (2007). Studentaktiverande arbetssätt - en resurs i utbildningen.
- Håkansson, D. & Josefsson, G. (2005). Granbarrsprojektet -- ett försök till differentierad undervisning på en universitetskurs. In Järnefelt, I. (Eds.) Proceedings 2005 (pp. 176-183). CED, Lund University.
Reports (2)
- Josefsson, G. (submitted). Pancakes and peas – on apparent disagreement and (null) light verbs in Swedish*.
- Pelger, S., Santesson, S. & Josefsson, G. (2009). Naturvetare skriver populärvetenskap. Lärande Lund, rapport, 2009:4. Lärande Lund.
Working papers (6)
- Josefsson, G. (2014). Pseudocoordination in Swedish with gå ‘go’ and the “surprise effect”. Working Papers in Scandinavian Syntax, 93. Lunds universitet : Institutionen för nordiska språk.
- Josefsson, G. (2012). ”Disagreeing” doubling det. Working Papers in Scandinavian Syntax, 90. Centre for Languages and Literature, Lund University.
- Josefsson, G. (2010). Object shift and optionality. An intricate interplay between syntax, prosody and information structure. Working Papers in Scandinavian Syntax, 86. Centre for Languages and Literature, Lund University.
- Petersson, D. & Josefsson, G. (2010). ELLERHUR and other Yes/No-question operator candidates in Swedish. Working Papers in Scandinavian Syntax, 86. Centre for Languages and Literature, Lund University.
- Josefsson, G. (2009). Pronominal reference, topic doubling and gender in Swedish. Working Papers in Scandinavian Syntax, 84.
- Josefsson, G. (2005). How could Merge be free and word formation restricted: The case of compounding in Romance and Germanic. Working Papers in Scandinavian Syntax, 75. Department of Scandinavian Languages, Lund University.
Newspaper articles (2)
- Santesson, S. & Josefsson, G. (2017). Många studenter har stora problem med att skriva. Svenska Dagbladet Brännpunkt.
- Josefsson, G. (2016). Professor: ”Snabbspår” till svenska fungerar inte. Svenska Dagbladet, "understreckare". Svenska Dagbladet.
Supervision at Lund University (2)
Research portal (Lund University)