Daniel L. Finer

Daniel L. Finer is a Professor in the Department of Linguistics at Stony Brook University. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst (1984). His research focuses on syntax, particularly integrating insights from understudied languages into universal linguistic theories. Key areas include first/second language acquisition, Austronesian languages of Sulawesi, long-distance dependencies, and pronominal elements. His work has been supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH).

Recent projects explore syntactic interactions with phonology and semantics. Notable contributions include analyses of Turkana word order and Makassar prosody. Finer has presented at conferences such as the Nilo-Saharan Linguistics Colloquium and the Annual Conference on African Linguistics.

His research emphasizes cross-linguistic data from Native American, New Guinean, and Austronesian languages to refine syntactic theory. Current investigations address clitic systems and nominalization processes in South Sulawesi languages.