(Learning) the meaning of modals
Modals can express different forces: can means possible, must means necessary. They also can express various flavors: epistemic, deontic, ability… How, and when, do children figure out these two dimensions? To answer these questions, we use insights from corpus studies of children’s early modal productions and input and behavioral experiments with adults.

Acquiring modal force: can and must, possible or necessary?
Corpus study: English children’s modal productions and input
Joint work with Annemarie van Dooren, Ailís Cournane and Valentine Hacquard.
- Paper: [DOI] [PDF]
- Shorter version (Amsterdam Colloquium 2019): slides; proceedings paper
- Poster (presented at McDonnell Workshop)
- Poster (presented at BUCLD43): poster; proceedings
Novel-Word Learning Experiment
Joint work with Ailís Cournane and Valentine Hacquard.
- Presented at ELM(1): slides; talk video; proceedings paper
Acquiring modal flavor: what kind of possibilities and necessities?
Joint work with Annemarie van Dooren, Ailís Cournane and Valentine Hacquard.
- Paper: [PDF]
- Shorter version (Amsterdam Colloquium 2017): proceedings paper
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Modals, Tense and Aspect
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Actuality Entailments of ability modals with perception verbs
The Temporal Perspective of epistemic modals
Joint work with Annemarie van Dooren.
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Scalar Implicatures
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Primary and secondary scalar implicatures
Joint work with Benjamin Spector and Emmanuel Chemla.