Matthew S. Dryer , Professor, received his Ph.D. in Linguistics at the University of Michigan. He came to Buffalo in 1989 after ten years at the University of Alberta. He has held visiting positions at UCLA, the University of Oregon, The Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics in Nijmegen, The Netherlands and The Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany. His primary research interests are in typology, syntax, and language documentation. The theoretical orientation of his work is that of basic linguistic theory. Since 1983 he has been working on a project establishing a large cross-linguistic database on word order and related typological characteristics, and has produced a number of publications in this area. His language documentation interests include Kutenai and Papuan languages. Since 2001, he has been engaged in joint field research with Lea Brown on two languages of Papua New Guinea, Walman (in the Torricelli family) and Poko-Rawo (in the Sko family). Publications include 'Primary Objects, Secondary Objects, and Antidative' (Language, 1986), 'The Greenbergian Word Order Correlations' (Language, 1992), 'The Discourse Function of the Kutenai Inverse' (Voice and Inversion, 1994), "Focus, Pragmatic Presupposition, and Activated Propositions" (Journal of Pragmatics, 1996), 'On the 6-way Word Order Typology' (Studies in Language, 1997). He is one of four co-editors of the World Atlas of Language Structures, a typological atlas, along with Martin Haspelmath, David Gil, and Bernard Comrie. The atlas was published by Oxford University Press in August 2005. The WALS atlas is now available on line.
Office: 616 Baldy Hall
Office phone number: 716-645-0122
Email: dryer@buffalo.edu
What is basic linguistic theory?
World Atlas of Language Structures
Online version of the World Atlas of Language Structures
Papers on grammatical relations
Papers on methodological and foundational issues
Downloadable student disssertations
Photos from field work in Papua New Guinea
Publications:
For any papers here that are not available for download, please ask me for a copy at dryer@buffalo.edu. If any of the papers that are listed as being available for download fail to do so, please let me know.
Dryer, Matthew S. 2007. Review of Frederick J. Newmeyer, Possible and probable languages: a generative perspective on linguistic typology. Journal of Linguistics 43: 244-252. DOWNLOAD
Brown, Lea, and Matthew S. Dryer. To appear in Language. The verbs for 'and' in Walman, a Torricelli language of Papua New Guinea. DOWNLOAD
Brown, Lea, and Matthew S. Dryer. Under submission. "An inflectional diminutive in Walman'. DOWNLOAD
Dryer, Matthew S. In press. "The branching direction theory revisited". To appear in Sergio Scalise, Elisabetta Magni, Antonietta Bisetto (eds.), Universals of Language Today, Berlin: Springer.DOWNLOAD [This is not the final draft of this paper.]
Dryer, Matthew S. To appear. "Word order in Tibeto-Burman languages". To appear in Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area.DOWNLOAD [This is not the final draft of this paper.]
Dryer, Matthew S. To appear 2007. "Verb-Object-Negative Order in Central Africa". In Negation Patterns in West Africa, edited by Norbert Cyffer, Erwin Ebermann, and Georg Ziegelmeyer.DOWNLOAD [This is not the final draft of this paper.]
Dryer, Matthew S. 2007. Kutenai, Algonquian, and the Pacific Northwest from an areal perspective. In Proceedings of the Thirty-Eighth Algonquian Conference, edited by H. C. Wolfart, pp. 155-206. Winnipeg: University of Manitoba. DOWNLOAD
Dryer, Matthew S. 2007. "Clause types". In Clause Structure, Language Typology and Syntactic Description, Vol. 1, edited by Timothy Shopen, pp. 224-275. Second Edition. Cambridge University Press.DOWNLOAD [This is not the final draft of this paper.]
Dryer, Matthew S. 2007. "Word order". In Clause Structure, Language Typology and Syntactic Description, Vol. 1, edited by Timothy Shopen, 61-131. Second Edition. Cambridge University Press.DOWNLOAD [This is not the final draft of this paper.]
Dryer, Matthew S. 2007. "Noun phrase structure". In Complex Constructions, Language Typology and Syntactic Description, Vol. 2, edited by Timothy Shopen, pp. 151-205. Second Edition. Cambridge University Press.DOWNLOAD [This is not the final draft of this paper.]
Keenan, Edward L. and Matthew S. Dryer. 2007. "Passive in the World's Languages". In Clause Structure, Language Typology and Syntactic Description, Vol. 1, edited by Timothy Shopen, pp. 325-361. Second Edition. Cambridge University Press.DOWNLOAD [This is not the final draft of this paper.]
Dryer, Matthew S. 2006. Descriptive theories, explanatory theories, and basic linguistic theory. In Catching Language: Issues in Grammar Writing, edited by Felix Ameka, Alan Dench, and Nicholas Evans, pp. 207-234. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. DOWNLOAD [This is not the final draft of this paper.]
Dryer, Matthew S. 2006. Functionalism and the Theory - Metalanguage Confusion. In Phonology, Morphology, and the Empirical Imperative: Papers in Honour of Bruce Derwing, edited by Grace Wiebe, Gary Libben, Tom Priestly, Ron Smyth, and Sam Wang, pp. 27-59. Taipei: The Crane Publishing Company. DOWNLOAD
Dryer, Matthew S. 2005. "Expression of pronominal subjects". In The World Atlas of Language Structures, edited by Martin Haspelmath, Matthew S. Dryer, David Gil, and Bernard Comrie. Oxford University Press. DOWNLOAD WITH MAP or DOWNLOAD WITHOUT MAP [This is not the final draft of this paper.]
Dryer, Matthew S. 2005. "Order of subject, object, and verb". In The World Atlas of Language Structures, edited by Martin Haspelmath, Matthew S. Dryer, David Gil, and Bernard Comrie. Oxford University Press. DOWNLOAD WITH MAP or DOWNLOAD WITHOUT MAP [This is not the final draft of this paper.]
Dryer, Matthew S. 2005. "Coding of nominal plurality". In The World Atlas of Language Structures, edited by Martin Haspelmath, Matthew S. Dryer, David Gil, and Bernard Comrie. Oxford University Press. DOWNLOAD WITH MAP or DOWNLOAD WITHOUT MAP [This is not the final draft of this paper.]
Dryer, Matthew S. 2005. "Polar questions". In The World Atlas of Language Structures, edited by Martin Haspelmath, Matthew S. Dryer, David Gil, and Bernard Comrie. Oxford University Press. DOWNLOAD WITHOUT MAP [This is not the final draft of this paper.]
Dryer, Matthew S. 2005. "Position of polar question particles". In The World Atlas of Language Structures, edited by Martin Haspelmath, Matthew S. Dryer, David Gil, and Bernard Comrie. Oxford University Press. DOWNLOAD WITHOUT MAP [This is not the final draft of this paper.]
Dryer, Matthew S. 2005. "Position of interrogative phrases in content questions". In The World Atlas of Language Structures, edited by Martin Haspelmath, Matthew S. Dryer, David Gil, and Bernard Comrie. Oxford University Press. DOWNLOAD WITHOUT MAP [This is not the final draft of this paper.]
Dryer, Matthew S. 2005. "Negative morphemes". In The World Atlas of Language Structures, edited by Martin Haspelmath, Matthew S. Dryer, David Gil, and Bernard Comrie. Oxford University Press. DOWNLOAD WITHOUT MAP [This is not the final draft of this paper.]
Dryer, Matthew S. 2005. "Prefixing versus suffixing in inflectional morphology". In The World Atlas of Language Structures, edited by Martin Haspelmath, Matthew S. Dryer, David Gil, and Bernard Comrie. Oxford University Press. DOWNLOAD WITHOUT MAP [This is not the final draft of this paper.]
Dryer, Matthew S. 2005. "Position of Case Affixes". In The World Atlas of Language Structures, edited by Martin Haspelmath, Matthew S. Dryer, David Gil, and Bernard Comrie. Oxford University Press. DOWNLOAD WITHOUT MAP [This is not the final draft of this paper.]
Dryer, Matthew S. 2005. "Position of Pronominal Possessive Affixes". In The World Atlas of Language Structures, edited by Martin Haspelmath, Matthew S. Dryer, David Gil, and Bernard Comrie. Oxford University Press. DOWNLOAD WITHOUT MAP [This is not the final draft of this paper.]
Dryer, Matthew S. 2005. "Position of Tense-Aspect Affixes". In The World Atlas of Language Structures, edited by Martin Haspelmath, Matthew S. Dryer, David Gil, and Bernard Comrie. Oxford University Press. DOWNLOAD WITHOUT MAP [This is not the final draft of this paper.]
Dryer, Matthew S. 2005. "Definite articles". In The World Atlas of Language Structures, edited by Martin Haspelmath, Matthew S. Dryer, David Gil, and Bernard Comrie. Oxford University Press. DOWNLOAD WITHOUT MAP [These are not the final draft of this paper.]
Dryer, Matthew S. 2005. "Indefinite articles". In The World Atlas of Language Structures, edited by Martin Haspelmath, Matthew S. Dryer, David Gil, and Bernard Comrie. Oxford University Press. DOWNLOAD WITHOUT MAP [This is not the final draft of this paper.]
Dryer, Matthew S. 2005. "Order of subject and verb". In The World Atlas of Language Structures, edited by Martin Haspelmath, Matthew S. Dryer, David Gil, and Bernard Comrie. Oxford University Press. DOWNLOAD WITHOUT MAP [This is not the final draft of this paper.]
Dryer, Matthew S. 2005. "Order of object and verb". In The World Atlas of Language Structures, edited by Martin Haspelmath, Matthew S. Dryer, David Gil, and Bernard Comrie. Oxford University Press. DOWNLOAD WITHOUT MAP [This is not the final draft of this paper.]
Dryer, Matthew S. 2005. "Order of adposition and noun phrase". In The World Atlas of Language Structures, edited by Martin Haspelmath, Matthew S. Dryer, David Gil, and Bernard Comrie. Oxford University Press. DOWNLOAD WITHOUT MAP [This is not the final draft of this paper.]
Dryer, Matthew S. 2005. "Order of adjective and noun". In The World Atlas of Language Structures, edited by Martin Haspelmath, Matthew S. Dryer, David Gil, and Bernard Comrie. Oxford University Press. DOWNLOAD WITHOUT MAP [This is not the final draft of this paper.]
Dryer, Matthew S. 2005. "Order of demonstrative and noun". In The World Atlas of Language Structures, edited by Martin Haspelmath, Matthew S. Dryer, David Gil, and Bernard Comrie. Oxford University Press. DOWNLOAD WITHOUT MAP [This is not the final draft of this paper.]
Dryer, Matthew S. 2005. "Order of genitive and noun". In The World Atlas of Language Structures, edited by Martin Haspelmath, Matthew S. Dryer, David Gil, and Bernard Comrie. Oxford University Press. DOWNLOAD WITHOUT MAP [This is not the final draft of this paper.]
Dryer, Matthew S. 2005. "Order of numeral and noun". In The World Atlas of Language Structures, edited by Martin Haspelmath, Matthew S. Dryer, David Gil, and Bernard Comrie. Oxford University Press. DOWNLOAD WITHOUT MAP [This is not the final draft of this paper.]
Dryer, Matthew S. 2005. "Order of relative clause and noun". In The World Atlas of Language Structures, edited by Martin Haspelmath, Matthew S. Dryer, David Gil, and Bernard Comrie. Oxford University Press. DOWNLOAD WITHOUT MAP [This is not the final draft of this paper.]
Dryer, Matthew S. 2005. "Order of degree word and adjective". In The World Atlas of Language Structures, edited by Martin Haspelmath, Matthew S. Dryer, David Gil, and Bernard Comrie. Oxford University Press. DOWNLOAD WITHOUT MAP [This is not the final draft of this paper.]
Dryer, Matthew S. 2005. "Order of adverbial subordinator and clause". In The World Atlas of Language Structures, edited by Martin Haspelmath, Matthew S. Dryer, David Gil, and Bernard Comrie. Oxford University Press. DOWNLOAD WITHOUT MAP [This is not the final draft of this paper.]
Dryer, Matthew S. 2005. "Relationship between the order of object and verb and the order of adposition and noun phrase". In The World Atlas of Language Structures, edited by Martin Haspelmath, Matthew S. Dryer, David Gil, and Bernard Comrie. Oxford University Press. DOWNLOAD WITHOUT MAP [This is not the final draft of this paper.]
Dryer, Matthew S. 2005. "Relationship between the order of object and verb and the order of relative clause and noun". In The World Atlas of Language Structures, edited by Martin Haspelmath, Matthew S. Dryer, David Gil, and Bernard Comrie. Oxford University Press. DOWNLOAD WITHOUT MAP [This is not the final draft of this paper.]
Dryer, Matthew S. 2005. "Relationship between the order of object and verb and the order of adjective and noun". In The World Atlas of Language Structures, edited by Martin Haspelmath, Matthew S. Dryer, David Gil, and Bernard Comrie. Oxford University Press. DOWNLOAD WITHOUT MAP [This is not the final draft of this paper.]
Dryer, Matthew S. 2004. "Noun phrases without nouns". Functional Linguistics 11: 43-76.
Dryer, Matthew S. 2003. "Significant and non-significant implicational universals". Linguistic Typology 7: 108-128.
Dryer, Matthew S. 2003. "Word order in Sino-Tibetan languages from a typological and geographical perspective". In Sino-Tibetan Languages edited by Graham Thurgood and Randy LaPolla. Richmond: Curzon Press
Dryer, Matthew S. 2002. "Case Distinctions, Rich Verb Agreement, and Word Order Type". Theoretical Linguistics 28: 151-157.
Dryer, Matthew S. 2002. A Comparison of Preverbs in Kutenai and Algonquian. In Proceedings of the Thirtieth Algonquian Conference, edited by David Pentland, pp. 63-94. Winnipeg: University of Manitoba. DOWNLOAD [The downloadable version differs in pagination and possibly other minor details from the published version]
Dryer, Matthew S. 2001. "Mon-Khmer Word Order from a Crosslinguistic Perspective" In Papers from the Sixth Annual Meeting of the Southeast Asian Linguistics Society, 1996, edited by Karen L. Adams and Thomas John Hudak, pp. 83-99. Tempe: Arizona State University Program for Southeast Asian Studies.DOWNLOAD
Dryer, Matthew S. 2000. "Counting genera vs. counting languages: A reply to Maslova" Linguistic Typology 4: 334 - 350.
Dryer, Matthew S. 1998 "Aspects of Word Order in the Languages of Europe" In Constituent Order in the Languages of Europe, edited by Anna Siewierska, pp. 283 - 319. European Science Foundation Language Typology series. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.DOWNLOAD
Dryer, Matthew S. 1998 "Why Statistical Universals are Better Than Absolute Universals" Chicago Linguistic Society 33: The Panels, pp. 123-145. DOWNLOAD [The version downloadable here is different in pagination and possibly other minor details from the published version]
Dryer, Matthew S. 1998. "Obviation Across Clause Boundaries in Kutenai." Studies in Native American Linguistics IX, John Kytle, Hangyoo Khym, and Supath Kookiattikoon, eds. University of Kansas Working Papers 22 : 2: 33 - 51.DOWNLOAD [The version downloadable here is different in pagination and possibly other minor details from the published version]
Dryer, Matthew S. 1997 "On the 6-way Word Order Typology". Studies in Language 21: 69-103. DOWNLOAD [The version downloadable here is different in pagination and possibly other minor details from the published version]
Dryer, Matthew S. 1997 "Are Grammatical Relations Universal?" In Essays on Language Function and Language Type: Dedicated to T. Givon, edited by Joan Bybee, John Haiman, and Sandra Thompson, pp. 115 - 143. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.DOWNLOAD
Dryer, Matthew S. 1997 "Passive vs. Indefinite Subject Construction in Cree." In Papers of the Twenty-Sixth Algonquian Conference, edited by David Pentland. Winnipeg: University of Manitoba.DOWNLOAD
Dryer, Matthew S. 1996. Grammatical Relations in Ktunaxa (Kutenai): The Belcourt Lecture Delivered Before the University of Manitoba on 24 February 1995. Voices of Rupert's Land: Winnipeg, Canada.DOWNLOAD
Dryer, Matthew S. 1996 "Focus, Pragmatic Presupposition, and Activated Propositions". Journal of Pragmatics 26: 475-523.DOWNLOAD
Dryer, Matthew S. 1996 "Word Order Typology." In Handbook on Syntax, Vol. 2, edited by J. Jacobs. Walter de Gruyter Publishing, pp. 1050 - 1065. DOWNLOAD
Dryer, Matthew S. 1995 "Frequency and Pragmatically Unmarked Word Order". In Word Order in Discourse, edited by Mickey Noonan and Pamela Downing, pp. 105-135. John Benjamins.DOWNLOAD
Dryer, Matthew S. 1994 "The Discourse Function of the Kutenai Inverse". In Voice and Inversion, edited by T. Givon, pp. 65-99. John Benjamins.
Dryer, Matthew S. 1992 "The Greenbergian Word Order Correlations." Language 68: 81-138.DOWNLOAD
Dryer, Matthew S. 1992. "A Comparison of the Obviation Systems of Kutenai and Algonquian." In Papers of the Twenty-Third Algonquian Conference, edited by William Cowan. Ottawa: Carleton University, pp. 119-163. DOWNLOAD
Dryer, Matthew S. 1992 "Adverbial Subordinators and Word Order Asymmetries." In Performance Principles of Word Order, edited by John A. Hawkins and Anna Siewierska, pp.50-67. EUROTYP Working Papers, European Science Foundation. DOWNLOAD
Jacennik, Barbara, and Dryer, Matthew S. 1992 "Verb-Subject Order in Polish". In Pragmatics of Word Order Flexibility, ed. by Doris Payne, pp. 209-241. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Dryer, Matthew S. 1991 "SVO Languages and the OV/VO Typology." Journal of Linguistics 27: 443-482. DOWNLOAD (The downloadable version is not the final version)
Dryer, Matthew S. 1991 "What Determines Antipassive in Dyirbal?" In ESCOL '90 (Proceedings of the Seventh Eastern States Conference on Linguistics), ed. by Yongkyoon No and Mark Libucha. Columbus: The Ohio State University, pp. 90-101.DOWNLOAD
Dryer, Matthew S. 1991 "Subject and Inverse in Kutenai." In Papers from the American Indian Languages Conferences, Held at the University of California, Santa Cruz, July and August, 1991. Occasional Papers on Linguistics 16:183-202, ed. James E. Redden. Carbondale, Illinois: Dept. of Linguistics. Also appeared in Buffalo Papers in Linguistics 91-01: 20-39.
Dryer, Matthew S. 1989 "Article-Noun Order". In Papers from the 25th Regional Meeting of the Chicago Linguistic Society , pp. 83-97.DOWNLOAD
Dryer, Matthew S. 1989 "Plural Words". Linguistics 27:865-895.DOWNLOAD
Dryer, Matthew S. 1989 "Discourse-Governed Word Order and Word Order Typology". Belgian Journal of Linguistics 4: 69-90.DOWNLOAD
Dryer, Matthew S. 1989 "Large Linguistic Areas and Language Sampling". Studies in Language 13: 257-292.
Dryer, Matthew S. 1989 "Salinan Word Order". In Papers from the 1988 Hokan-Penutian Languages Workshop, edited by Scott Delancey. University of Oregon Papers in Linguistics, Publications of the Center for Amerindian Linguistics and Ethnography 1, pp. 40-49.
Dryer, Matthew S. 1988 "Object-Verb Order and Adjective-Noun Order: Dispelling a Myth." Lingua 74: 185-217.
Dryer, Matthew S. 1988 "Universals of Negative Position." In Studies in Syntactic Typology, edited by M. Hammond, E. Moravcsik, & J. Wirth. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, pp. 93-124.
Dryer, Matthew S. 1986 "Primary Objects, Secondary Objects, and Antidative." Language 62: 808-845.DOWNLOAD
Dryer, Matthew S. 1985 "The Role of Thematic Relations in Adjectival Passives." Linguistic Inquiry 16: 320-326.DOWNLOAD
Dryer, Matthew S. 1985 "Tlingit: An Object-Initial Language?" Canadian Journal of Linguistics 30: 1-14.
Dryer, Matthew S. 1983 "Indirect Objects in Kinyarwanda Revisited." In Studies in Relational Grammar I, edited by David M. Perlmutter, pp. 129-140. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. DOWNLOAD
Dryer, Matthew S. 1982 "In Defense of a Universal Passive." Linguistic Analysis 10: 53-60.
Dryer, Matthew S. 1982 "Passive and Inversion in Kannada." In Proceedings of the Eighth Annual Meeting of the Berkeley Linguistics Society, pp. 311-321.
Dryer, Matthew S. 1980 "The Positional Tendencies of Sentential Noun Phrases in Universal Grammar." Canadian Journal of Linguistics 25: 123-195.DOWNLOAD
Dryer, Matthew S. 1978 "Some Theoretical Implications of Grammatical Relations in Cebuano." In University of Michigan Papers in Linguistics 2:4: 1-43.
Dryer, Matthew S. 1977 "On Explaining the Syntactic Properties of Passive Agent Noun Phrases in Universal Grammar." In Papers from the 1976 Meeting of the 1976 Meeting of the Michigan Linguistic Society, pp. 7-23.
Dryer, Matthew S. 1976 "Generative Semantics and the Study of Discourse Structure." In Michigan Linguistic Society Papers,Volume 2. Ann Arbor: University Microfilms.
Dryer, Matthew S. 1976 "Is
Logical Structure Necessary?" In Papers from the Annual Meeting of the
Michigan Linguistic Society, October 9, 1975, edited by R. Bailey,
J. Hill, and D. Lockwood. University of Michigan Papers in Linguistics
2:34-47.