Zeqi Zhao’s personal website

Hi, my name is Zeqi Zhao [tsɤ́ tɕʰí ʈʂàʊ̯].

I am currently completing my Ph.D. in Theoretical Linguistics at the University of Göttingen, supervised by Professors Clemens Mayr and Uwe Junghanns. My dissertation examines how focus shapes meaning, using Mandarin dou as a case study. I argue that what looks like a multifunctional particle performs a single operation whose effect is determined by focus structure and the argumentative structure of discourse.

You can also find more information on my institutional page. You can reach me at zeqizhao.zz@gmail.com.

Research Interests

• Formal semantics/pragmatics;

• The semantics/pragmatics interface;

• Logic in language;

• Information structure

Public outreach

Modern theoretical linguistics—particularly generative and formal approaches—often bears the “non-scientific” label. My goal is to show the general public that formal semantics goes well beyond abstract formalisms that resemble “pure math”: formal grammars generate precise, testable predictions that can be directly validated against empirical data.

In a joint public talk (with Nina Haslinger) at the 5th Night of Science in Göttingen, I demonstrated how an intuitive understanding of logical consequence is woven into our unconscious language faculty.

Below is the playful comic strip I used in my talk: