My research interests are mostly in formal (and not so formal) semantics. In the past, I have worked on a variety of topics, including wh-constructions (questions, comparatives), polarity and negation, focus particles (even, too/either), number and person (especially in bound pronouns), modality and evidentiality, and the interaction between modality and tense/aspect. Please see my list of publications below, or my Google Scholar profile.

Currently  most of my research activities take place within the  research group on Tense and Aspect in the Pacific in collaboration with my fantastic UBC colleagues and students.

Teaching

I regularly teach undergraduate and graduate courses in semantics and pragmatics (including Ling 327, 345, 425, 525, and 527). Over the years I have (co-)taught various seminars for graduate and advanced undergraduate students on topics such as modality, cross-linguistic pragmatics, number and quantification, and number and aspect (Ling 447 and 530). I have also taught introductory course in general linguistics (Ling 100) and morphology/syntax/semantics (Ling 201), and team-taught an introduction to cognitive science (Cogs 200) in UBC’s Cognitive Systems program.

Navarro, Michel, Hotze Rullmann, and Lisa Matthewson. 2024. An inquisitive marker in Kaingang. Presentation at the workshop ‘Polar Question Meaning[s] across Languages’, University of Amsterdam, April 11, 2024. (slides)

Rullmann, Hotze, and Sander Nederveen. in press. A wh discourse particle: Dutch ‘hoezo’. To appear in the proceedings of the 2024 annual meeting of the Linguistic Society of America.

Rullmann, Hotze. 2024. O tempora, o mores: Over fotobijschriften, werkwoordstijden en conventies [about photo captions, verb tenses and conventions]. In Bart Hollebrandse, Angeliek van Hout, Roel Jonkers, and Alexander Martin (eds.), Festschrift for Jack Hoeksema, pp. 266-281. University of Groningen Press. https://doi.org/10.21827/tabu.2023.41270. (rough) English translation (produced with the help of Google Translate).

Rullmann, Hotze, Marianne Huijsmans, Lisa Matthewson, and Neda Todorović. 2023. Why plain futurates are different. Linguistic Inquiry 54(1): 197-208.  https://doi.org/10.1162/ling_a_00435

Reisinger, Daniel, Lisa Matthewson, and Hotze Rullmann. 2022. Using corpus methods to investigate modal-temporal interactions. In Jozina Vander Klok, Núbia Ferreira Rech, and Simone Guesser (eds.), Modality in Underdescribed Languages: Methods and Insights, p. 141-189. De Gruyter Mouton. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110721478-005

Anne Bertrand, Yurika Aonuki, Sihwei Chen, Henry Davis, Joash Gambarage, Laura Griffin, Marianne Huijsmans, Lisa Matthewson, Daniel Reisinger, Hotze Rullmann, Raiane Salles, Michael Schwan, Neda Todorović, Bailey Trotter, and Jozina Vander Klok. 2022. Nobody’s perfect. Languages 7(2): 148. https://doi.org/10.3390/languages7020148

Chen, Sihwei, Jozina Vander Klok, Lisa Matthewson, and Hotze Rullmann. 2021. The ‘experiential’ as an existential past: Evidence from Javanese and Atayal. Natural Language and Linguistic Theory39(3): 709-758. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11049-020-09488-6 (Online first, August 26, 2020.)

Matthewson, Lisa, Sihwei Chen, Marianne Huijsmans, Marcin Morzycki, Daniel Reisinger, and Hotze Rullmann. 2019. Restricting the English past tense. Snippets 37:61-64. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7358/snip-2019-037-mchr

Rullmann, Hotze, and Lisa Matthewson. 2018. Towards a theory of modal-temporal interaction. Language 94(2): 281-331. DOI: 10.1353/lan.2018.0018

Rullmann, Hotze. 2018. Everyone is different. In Lisa Matthewson, Erin Guntly, and Michael Rochemont (eds.), Wa7 xweysás i nqwal’utteníha i ucwalmícwa: He loves the people’s languages. Essays in honour of Henry Davis, p. 311-327. Vancouver, BC: UBC Occasional Papers in Linguistics vol. 6.

Kim, Kyumin, Elizabeth Ritter, Martina Wiltschko, and Hotze Rullmann. 2017. 2 + 2 = 3: Number contrasts in Blackfoot. Glossa: a journal of general linguistics 2(1): 96 (p. 1-15). DOI: http://doi.org/10.5334/gjgl.289.

Chen, Sihwei, Vera Hohaus, Rebecca Laturnus, Meagan Louie, Lisa Matthewson, Hotze Rullmann, Ori Simchen, Claire K. Turner, and Jozina Vander Klok. 2017. Past possibility cross-linguistically: Evidence from 12 languages. In Ana Arregui, María Luisa Rivero, and Andrés Salanova (eds.) Modality Across Syntactic Categories, p. 235-287. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Davis, Henry, Lisa Matthewson, and Hotze Rullmann. 2009. ‘Out Of Control’ Marking as Circumstantial Modality in St’át’imcets. In Lotte Hogeweg, Helen de Hoop and Andrey Malchukov (eds.) Cross-linguistic Semantics of Tense, Aspect, and Modality, p. 205-244. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company.

Rullmann, Hotze, Lisa Matthewson, and Henry Davis. 2008. Modals as Distributive Indefinites. Natural Language Semantics 16: 317–357. DOI: 10.1007/s11050-008-9036-0

Matthewson, Lisa, Henry Davis, and Hotze Rullmann. 2007. Evidentials as Epistemic Modals: Evidence from St’át’imcets. Linguistic Variation Yearbook 7: 201-254.

Davis, Henry, Lisa Matthewson and Hotze Rullmann. 2007. A Unified Modal Semantics for ‘Out-of-Control’ Marking in St’át’imcets. In CLS 43: Proceedings of the 43rd Annual Regional Meeting of the Chicago Linguistic Society.

Davis, Henry, Lisa Matthewson, and Hotze Rullmann. 2007. A Unified Modal Semantics for ‘Out-of-Control’ Marking in St’át’imcets. In Kristín Jóhannsdóttir and Martin Oberg (eds.) Papers for the 42nd International Conference on Salish and Neighbouring Languages, p. 119-160. University of British Columbia Working Papers in Linguistics 20.

Rullmann, Hotze, and Aili You. 2006. General Number and the Semantics and Pragmatics of Indefinite Bare Nouns in Mandarin Chinese. In Klaus von Heusinger and Ken P. Turner (eds.) Where Semantics Meets Pragmatics, p. 175-196. Amsterdam: Elsevier.

Matthewson, Lisa, Hotze Rullmann, and Henry Davis. 2006. Evidentials are Epistemic Modals in St’át’imcets. In Masaru Kiyota, James L. Thompson and Noriko Yamane-Tanaka (eds.) Papers for the 41st International Conference on Salish and Neighbouring Languages, p. 221-263. University of British Columbia Working Papers in Linguistics 18.

Matthewson, Lisa, Hotze Rullmann, and Henry Davis. 2005. Modality in St’át’imcets. In J. C. Brown, Masaru Kiyota, and Tyler Peterson (eds.) Papers for the 40th International Conference on Salish and Neighbouring Languages, pp. 166-183. University of British Columbia Working Papers in Linguistics 16. Also published as Matthewson, Lisa, Hotze Rullmann, and Henry Davis. 2006. Modality in St’át’imcets. In Shannon T. Bischoff, Lynika Butler, Peter Norquest, and Daniel Siddiqi (eds.) Studies in Salishan, p. 93-112. MIT Working Papers in Linguistics on Endangered and Less Familiar Languages 7. Department of Linguistics, MIT.

Rullmann, Hotze. 2004. First and Second Person Pronouns as Bound Variables. Linguistic Inquiry 35: 159-168.

Rullmann, Hotze. 2004. A Note on the History of Either. In Mary Andronis, Erin Debenport, Anna Pycha, and Keiko Yoshimura (eds.) CLS 38: Proceedings of the 38th Annual Regional Meeting of the Chicago Linguistic Society, Vol. 2: The Panels. Chicago Linguistic Society, Chicago.

Rullmann, Hotze. 2003. Additive Particles and Polarity. Journal of Semantics 20: 329-401.

Rullmann, Hotze. 2003. Bound-Variable Pronouns and the Semantics of Number. In Brian Agbayani, Paivi Koskinen, and Vida Samiian (eds.) Proceedings of the Western Conference On Linguistics, WECOL 2002, Vol. 14, p. 243-254. Department of Linguistics, California State University, Fresno.

Hoeksema, Jack, and Hotze Rullmann. 2001. Scalarity and Polarity: A Study of Scalar Adverbs as Polarity Items. In Jack Hoeksema, Hotze Rullmann, Víctor Sánchez-Valencia, and Ton van der Wouden (eds.) Perspectives on Negation and Polarity Items, p. 129-171. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company.

Hoeksema, Jack, Hotze Rullmann, Víctor Sánchez-Valencia, and Ton van der Wouden (eds.) 2001. Perspectives on Negation and Polarity Items. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company. 366 + xi pp.

Beck, Sigrid, and Hotze Rullmann. 1999. A Flexible Approach to Exhaustivity in Questions. Natural Language Semantics 7: 249-297.

Rullmann, Hotze, and Sigrid Beck. 1998. Presupposition Projection and the Interpretation of Which-Questions. In Devon Strolovitch and Aaron Lawson (eds.) Proceedings from Semantics and Linguistic Theory VIII (SALT VIII), p. 215-232. Department of Linguistics, Cornell University.

Rullmann, Hotze, and Sigrid Beck. 1998. Reconstruction and the Interpretation of Which-Phrases. In Graham Katz, Shin-Sook Kim, and Heike Winhart (eds.) Reconstruction: Proceedings of the 1997 Tübingen Workshop, p. 223-256. Arbeitspapiere des Sonderforschungsbereichs 340, Nr. 127, Universities of Tübingen and Stuttgart.

Rullmann, Hotze, and Jack Hoeksema. 1997. De distributie van ook maar en zelfs maar: een corpusstudie [The distribution of ook maar and zelfs maar: a corpus study]. Nederlandse Taalkunde 2: 281-317.

Rullmann, Hotze. 1997. Review of The Syntax of Negation by Liliane Haegeman. Journal of Comparative Germanic Linguistics 1: 157-176.

Rullmann, Hotze. 1997. Even, Polarity, and Scope. In Martha Gibson, Grace Wiebe, and Gary Libben (eds.) Papers in Experimental and Theoretical Linguistics, Vol. 4, p. 40-64. Department of Linguistics, University of Alberta.

Beck, Sigrid, and Hotze Rullmann. 1996. Degree Questions, Maximal Informativeness, and Exhaustivity. In Paul Dekker and Martin Stokhof (eds.) Proceedings of the Tenth Amsterdam Colloquium, p. 73-92. Institute for Logic, Language and Computation, University of Amsterdam.

Rullmann, Hotze. 1996. Two Types of Negative Polarity Items. In Kiyomi Kusumoto (ed.) Proceedings of the North East Linguistic Society, NELS 26, p. 335-350. GLSA, Department of Linguistics, University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Rullmann, Hotze. 1995. Negative Islands and Maximality. In Vida Samiian and Jeanette Schaeffer (eds.) Proceedings of the Western Conference on Linguistics, WECOL 1994, Volume 7, p. 210-223. California State University, Fresno.

Rullmann, Hotze. 1995. The Ambiguity of Comparatives with Less. In Janet M. Fuller, Ho Han, and David Parkinson (eds.) ESCOL ’94: Proceedings of the Eleventh Eastern States Conference on Linguistics, p. 258-269. DMLL, Cornell University.

Rullmann, Hotze, and Jan-Wouter Zwart. 1995. On Saying Dat. In Roel Jonkers et al. (eds.) Language and Cognition 5, p. 179-194. Research Group for Experimental and Theoretical Linguistics, University of Groningen.

Rullmann, Hotze. 1995. Geen eenheid [No unit]. TABU: Bulletin voor Taalwetenschap 25: 194-197. Also stored here (DBNL, Digitale Bibliotheek voor de Nederlandse Letteren).

Rullmann, Hotze. 1995. Maximality in the Semantics of Wh-Constructions. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

Rullmann, Hotze. 1994. De ambiguïteit van comparatieven met minder [The ambiguity of comparatives with less]. TABU: Bulletin voor Taalwetenschap 24: 79 101. Also stored here (DBNL, Digitale Bibliotheek voor de Nederlandse Letteren).

Rullmann, Hotze. 1994. Negative Islands Aren’t Islands. Paper presented at the 68th Annual Meeting of the Linguistic Society of America January 7, 1994, Boston.

Rullmann, Hotze. 1993. Scope Ambiguities in How Many-Questions. Paper presented at the 67th annual meeting of the Linguistic Society of America. Los Angeles, January 10, 1993. (Revised and extended version, Summer 1993.)

Rullmann, Hotze, and Henriëtte de Swart. 1992. The Semantics of How Many-Questions. In Dicky Gilbers and Sietze Looyenga (eds.) Language and Cognition 2, p. 265-278. Research Group for Experimental and Theoretical Linguistics, University of Groningen.

Rullmann, Hotze. 1991. Deterministic Parsing and the Verb Raising Construction in German and Dutch. In Bernadette Plunkett (ed.) UMass Occasional Papers in Linguistics 15: Issues in Psycholinguistics, p. 267-310. Department of Linguistics, University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Rullmann, Hotze. 1989. Indefinite Subjects in Dutch. In Emmon Bach, Angelika Kratzer, and Barbara Partee (eds.) Papers in Quantification, p. 313-334. Department of Linguistics, University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Some unpublished things

Rullmann, Hotze. Tense and aspect in picture descriptions. Very short manuscript, August 2020.

Number, Person, and Bound Variables. Slides for a talk given at the workshop “Between You and Me: Local Pronouns across Modalities”, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands, June 7-8, 2010.

More About At Least (joint work with Kimiko Nakanishi). Slides for a paper presented at MOSAIC (Meeting Of Semanticists Active In Canada), University of Ottawa, May 26, 2009.

Epistemic and Concessive Interpretations of At Least (joint work with Kimiko Nakanishi). Slides for a paper presented at the meeting of the Canadian Linguistics Association, Carleton University, Ottawa, May 24, 2009.

“Each of us must climb our separate mountain.” Poster presented at the Annual Meeting of the Canadian Linguistics Association, UBC, May 31-June 2, 2008. (full-size (PowerPoint), letter-sized (pdf))

Binding and Person/Number Features. Slides for a talk given at SALT 18, UMass, Amherst, March 21, 2008.

What Does Even Even Mean? Handout, Dec. 2007.

Graduate students I have (co-)supervised include:

• Bruno Andreotti, MA thesis: Interpreting derived stative predicates: Evidence from ʔayʔaǰuθəm
• Patrick Littell, PhD dissertation: Focus, predication, and polarity in Kwak’wala
• Tianhan Liu, MA thesis: Modal concord in Mandarin
• Kristin Johannsdottir, PhD dissertation: Aspects of the progressive in English and Icelandic
• Elizabeth Ferch, MA thesis: Number and the scope of indefinites

Google Scholar Profile | Tense & Aspect in the Pacific Lab