Fellow in Linguistics — Trinity College Dublin
Thomas
Stephen
Formal semanticist working on the meaning of clauses and the syntax–semantics interface.
AboutBio & research focus
I completed my PhD in Linguistics at the University of Edinburgh in 2023, under the supervision of Robert Truswell, Bryan Pickel, and Wataru Uegaki. Before starting a fellowship at Trinity College Dublin, I was a Lecturer in Semantics at Queen Mary University of London.
My work focuses on formal semantics, with particular attention to the syntax–semantics interface, the connections between linguistic theory and philosophy of language, and the relationship between grammar and cognition. I explore the semantics of finite clausal embedding and argument structure, aiming to give a unified explanation of their entailment patterns and alternations.
I am developing DACE (the Dictionary of Alternations in Clause Embedding), an online resource mapping the alternation patterns of clause-embedding predicates, initially with a focus on English.
I am also currently interested in the mechanistic interpretation of LLMs and, together with Fausto Carcassi, in the evolution of compositionality in natural languages.
I have also developed several tools and resources for teaching formal semantics, most significantly COMPOSE (Compositional Meaning Practice and Online Semantics Engine), which you can view below.
Research keywords
Doctoral supervision
ResearchCurrent projects
My primary research aims to give a formally explicit account of how clauses contribute to meaning, working in the interface of semantics, syntax, philosophy of language and the study of cognition.
DACE
The Dictionary of Alternations in Clause Embedding — an online resource mapping the alternation patterns of clause-embedding predicates in English. Inspired by Levin's English Verb Classes and Alternations.
Clausal embedding
A unified account of the entailment patterns and alternations of finite clausal embedding and argument structure at the syntax–semantics interface, which was the subject of my PhD thesis ↗.
Evolution of compositionality
With Fausto Carcassi — explaining the observed inventory of composition operations in natural language and the universals that constrain it. Taught as an ESSLLI 2026 course.
COMPOSE
Compositional Meaning Practice and Online Semantics Engine — an interactive tool and problem-set builder for teaching formal semantics.
TeachingCourses, summer school & supervision
Undergraduate
- Semantics I
- Semantics II
- Semantics III
- Pragmatics I
- Pragmatics II
Postgraduate
- Linguistic Pragmatics
- Describing Meaning
11-Week In-depth
- Scalar Implicature
- Presuppositions
- Model Theory & Indirect Semantics
- Modality
Undergraduate
- Introduction to Semantics
- Syntax II
- Meaning in the Real World
Postgraduate
- Formal Semantics
- Research Practicum
UG — as Lecturer
- Logic 1
- Puzzles and Paradoxes
UG — as Tutor
- Logic 1
- Mind, Matter, and Language
- LEL 1A
- LEL 1B
PG — as Tutor
- Introduction to Syntax
- Semantic Theory
The Function of Composition
An introduction to the formal tools and theoretical background for formulating and addressing questions about universals of the composition function in natural language — surveying the empirical landscape, describing composition as a single operation on meanings, introducing richer type theories, and formulating universals that constrain the observed variation (function application, type shifting, predicate modification, event identification, restriction, and intensional variants).
Supervision
COMPOSECompositional meaning practice & online semantics engine
An interactive tool for practising compositional semantics inspired by the Lambda Calculator (Champollion, Tauberer & Romero). It allows you to build exercises by assigning lexical denotations and syntactic trees and having students work through the derivation compositionally. It currently supports Function Application, Predicate Modification, Intensional Function Application, Quantifier Raising and Various Type-Shifting Mechanisms. Includes tools for building exercises and for loading batches of them.
ResourcesTeaching materials
A Game for Modal Logics
Handouts for a classroom game building intuitions about Kripke models for modal logics. Based on a description in Hughes and Cresswell New Introduction to Modal Logics.
Talks & PresentationsSelected, reverse chronological
Research assistant
- University of Göttingen
- Norwegian University of Science & Technology
Reviewer
- Oxford University Press
- Amsterdam Colloquium
- Western Canadian Philosophy Association
Curriculum VitaeFull academic record
A complete record of education, positions, teaching, and presentations.
Download CV ↗ContactGet in touch
School of Linguistic, Speech & Communication Sciences, Trinity College Dublin.