Taika Nagano (永野 大夏) Personal Website
Hello! I am a PhD student in linguistics at the University of Osaka (Div. of Language and Culture, Graduate School of Humanities) and currently a JSPS Research Fellow (DC2).
My research interests lie at the interface of syntax and morphology, especially in the verbal domain. I am interested in how cross-linguistic variation in argument structure and verbal morphology can deepen our understanding of the lexicon. My current work focuses on topics such as causatives, passives, applicative constructions, transitivity alternations, and contextual allomorphy from theoretical and typological perspectives.
I also enjoy collaborative research. I am currently working with Akitaka Yamada (Keio University) on applicative constructions in Japanese and their cross-linguistic parallels, and with Kanta Tateno (University of Connecticut) on several morphosemantic topics.
Alongside my research, I teach English as a part-time lecturer at Setsunan University, where I teach several first-year English courses.
Outside of linguistics, I enjoy playing classic Pokémon games, playing with my Chihuahua, going on drives with friends, and shopping (when my wallet allows it).
News
Talk: DM meets NANO II
Published:
I gave a talk at DM meets Nano II on “A Nanosyntactic Analysis of Causative-Inchoative Alternations in Japanese”
Theoretical Approaches to Natural Language 2025
Published:
My paper, “Toward a High Applicative Analysis of Direct Passives: A Preliminary Proposal,” has been published in the departmental bulletin The Project on Language and Culture 2025: Theoretical Approaches to Natural Language.
Talk: KLS 51
Published:
I gave a talk at KLS 51 on “The Strong Minimalist Thesis and the Lexicon.”
Recent Publications
Theoretical Approaches to Natural Language 2025
Nagano, Taika (2026) Toward a High Applicative Analysis of Direct Passives: A Preliminary Proposal. The Project on Language and Culture 2025: Theoretical Approaches to Natural Language, pp. 31--40.
Proceeding of ConSOLE 33
Nagano, Taika and Kanta Tateno (2025) "Morpho-semantic notes on unhappier", in Proceedings of the 33rd Edition of the Conference of the Student Organisation of Linguistics in Europe (ConSOLE 33), Federica Longo, Leonardo Russo Cardona, Tommaso Sgrizzi, and Hadis Tamleh Eds., Leiden University Centre for Linguistics (LUCL), pp. 248-257.
Proceeding of SICOGG 27
Nagano, Taika (2025) "Decomposing causative/passive morphemes in Japanese," in Proceedings of the 27th Seoul International Conference on Generative Grammar (SICOGG 27), A. Kang, Ed., The Korean Generative Grammar Circle, pp. 182--191.
Recent Presentations
DM meets Nano II
Oral presentation at Masaryk University, Brno, Czechia
KLS 51
Oral presentation at Ritsumeikan University, Osaka, Japan
SICOGG 27
Poster at Sogang University, Seoul, South Korea