About me
Research
My research, at the interface of philosophy of language, semantics and pragmatics, has addressed four sets of issues:
(1) How does language encode logical relations? Are functional, as opposed to lexical, categories, the bearers of logicality in natural language?
(2) What is the best way to characterize the boundary between semantics and pragmatics?
(3) Does first-personal discourse display any peculiar features? Are ‘de se’ attitudes special, and to which extent?
(4) Are there dedicated linguistic constructions to express subjective evaluation? Is there a unified class of evaluative predicates, of which moral, aesthetic and taste predicates form subclasses?
I have defended a novel conception of linguistic architecture, which makes room for a tripartite distinction between semantics, pragmatics, and what I call ‘prepragmatics’. I have argued that this novel conception explains better phenomena such as demonstrative reference, quantifier domain restriction, or the context-sensitivity of gradable adjectives.
My current research aims to explore the variety of linguistic mechanisms that underscore evaluative discourse. One direction of research concerns the classification of adjectives and aims to put forward a battery of linguistic criteria that tease apart subjectivity from evaluativity. Another direction studies the ways in which the valence evaluative judgments may depend on the context. Yet a third direction explores the semantics and pragmatics of expressive meaning, as when we use pejoratives, such as ’jerk’.
In 2024 I have started a 5 year research project "Valence Asymmetries: the positive, the negative, the good and the bad in language, mind and morality" (ERC Advanced Grant n° 101142133) (website coming soon).
While my research focuses primarily on theoretical questions, I appeal to methodologies from experimental pragmatics as well as corpus linguistics.
Employments
Distinguished Researcher at the University Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona
2024 - now
I am currently the PI of the ERC Advanced Grant "VALENCE ASYMMETRIES" (n° 101142133), conducted at the Department of Translation and Language Studies, within the Group of Formal Linguistics (GLiF).
Senior Researcher at the Jean Nicod Institute, Paris
(Directrice de Recherche)
2015 - 2024 (to be resumed in 2029)
A permanent full-time research position. I occasionally teach (on a voluntary basis), supervise PhDs or post-docs, take charge of certain administrative duties, as well as editorial duties.
Researcher at the University Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona
(Marie Curie-Sklodowska Research Fellow)
2012 - 2014
I conducted the project "Lexical Meaning and Logical Inference", which aimed at systematically examining the relationship between three seldom connected debates: the problem of logical constants in philosophy of logic, the debate on the functional vs. lexical distinction in linguistics, and the semantics vs. pragmatics boundary in philosophy of language. The project received funding from European Commission's Marie Curie Actions and was hosted by Universitat Pompeu Fabra.
Junior Researcher at the Jean Nicod Institute, Paris
(Chargée de Recherche)
2004 - 2015
A permanent full-time research position, involving occasional teaching
(on voluntary basis) as well as some administrative duties.
Languages
Serbian (native speaker)
French (second language)
English (proficiency level)
Spanish (proficiency level)
Catalan (proficiency level)
Croatian (proficiency level)
Bosnian (proficiency level)
Japanese (intermediate)
Italian (intermediate/beginner)
Portugese (beginner)
Latin (advanced)
Ancient Greek (beginner)
Degrees
HDR (Habilitation à diriger les recherches),
Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS)
2014
Committee: Jérôme Dokic (EHESS), Jonathan Ginzburg (Univ. Paris 7), Genoveva Martí (ICREA/UB), Louise McNally (UPF), François Recanati (IJN).
Title: La Signification à l'épreuve du contexte
PhD in Philosophy, Stanford University
2007
Committee: John Perry (supervisor; Stanford), Mark Crimmins (Stanford), John MacFarlane (Berkeley), Stanley Peters (Stanford), Kenneth Taylor (Stanford).
Title: What Is Said. An Inquiry Into Reference, Meaning, and Content
PhD in Cognitive Science, Ecole Polytechnique
2002
Committee: François Recanati (supervisor; CNRS), Patrick Blackburn (INRIA), Eros Corazza (Nottingham), Jérôme Dokic (EHESS), Pierre Jacob (CNRS).
Title: Contextes, Circonstances, et Constituants Inarticulés: Perspectives Formelles. (Title in English: Resolving Indexicals)