How to Cite This Blog

Doing syntactic research includes acknowledging ideas that you get from informal sources, such as blog posts, talks, conversations, etc. If you find ideas on this blog useful in your own work, please cite the relevant blog post. 

400,000 Visits for Ordinary Working Grammarian

As of today, March 6, 2026, my blog Ordinary Working Grammarian has reached a total of 400,000 visits. The blog began on March 14, 2017, and it reached the 200,000 mark on October 19, 2024 (over seven years). The second 200,000 took about a year and a half. Currently the blog is visited by around 10,000 people per month. I feel that is a very large number for a blog whose content concerns natural language syntax and linguistic fieldwork.

In celebration of this milestone, I am posting a list of my most popular blog posts over the last year (in order of popularity). I have a broad readership throughout the world, so if you want to post as a guest, please let me know! I welcome different points of view, even those very different from my own, as long as the subject matter is syntax or fieldwork.

1. Writing a Statement of Purpose for Linguistics Graduate School

2. Togo Diary (June-July 2025)

3. On Foundational Work in Syntactic Theory

4. Undergraduate Introduction to Syntax (Lectures, Spring 2026)

5. Statement of Purpose Examples

6. Some Scribblings on Nasal Gobbling

7. Giving a Talk – Some Practical Advice

8. Statement of Objectives

9. Reading Group: Foundations of Minimalist Syntax (Spring 2026) (near final draft)

10. An Interview with Paul Postal

Summary of Ordinary Working Grammarian (ChatGPT)

Ordinary Working Grammarian is an academically oriented blog devoted to natural language syntax, linguistic fieldwork, and the professional life of a working linguist. Its posts revolve around the analysis of syntactic structures, the development of formal proposals, and the articulation of clear methodological assumptions within generative and minimalist traditions. Many entries present detailed examinations of particular constructions, lecture-style explanations, or schematic representations that display the author’s commitment to precision, empirical grounding, and theoretical clarity.

A prominent theme throughout the blog is pedagogy. Numerous posts offer materials for teaching syntax, including exercises, assignments, and guidance for students at both undergraduate and graduate levels. These entries reveal a sustained investment in training new linguists, emphasizing not only theoretical content but also the practical skills of argumentation, tree drawing, and hypothesis testing.

Another consistent strand is the discussion of linguistic fieldwork. The author reflects on trips to document lesser-described languages, describes the challenges and rewards of working with consultants, and shares methodological insights on corpus building, metadata practices, and the ethics of documentation. These posts highlight an interest in the intersection of theoretical linguistics and real-world data collection.

Interviews, workshop reports, and community-oriented commentary further situate the blog within the broader field, showing an engagement not only with research problems but also with the people and events shaping contemporary linguistics. Across these components, the blog conveys the perspective of a scholar deeply committed to understanding language structure, teaching it effectively, and contributing thoughtfully to the wider disciplinary community.

200,000 Visits for Ordinary Working Grammarian

As of 4:05 October 19, 2024, my blog Ordinary Working Grammarian has reached a total of 200,000 visits. The first blog post ever was March 14, 2017. So we have been going strong for over seven years.

The readership of the blog has dramatically increased since its inception. I only reached the 100,000 mark less than two years ago  on December 20, 2022.

In celebration of this fantastic milestone, I am posting a list of my most popular blog posts over the last year (in order of popularity). I have a broad readership throughout the world, so if you want to post as a guest, please let me know!

100,000 Hits

My blog has reached 100,000 hits as of December 1, 2022. The monthly average is over 2,500 hits/per month for the last six months. 100,000 seems like a significant threshold in the evolution of my blog!!! When I get to a million, we will have a real celebration.