I am a linguist by training, with an interest in the philosophy of language. My research spans various topics including numerals, questions, implicatures, and speech acts. The puzzles that attract me pertain largely to how syntax constrains semantics, specifically how different ‘wordings’ of apparently the same content (e.g. ‘at least n’ vs. ‘n or more’, ‘is it raining?’ vs. ‘is it not raining?’) give rise to different inferences about the speaker and the world. Underlying several accounts of these puzzles is, interestingly, the presupposition that semantics also constrains syntax, specifically that the message conveyed by an expression may determine whether it is ‘well-formed’. I try to address this presupposition on the philosophical side of my work, exploring a way to integrate insights from modern linguistics with Wittgenstein’s early thoughts on language and symbolism.

I studied linguistics at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (MA) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (PhD). I am currently working at the Center for Cognitive Science of Language of the University of Nova Gorica. I am a native of Hanoi, Vietnam, where I go by the name of Trịnh Hữu Tuệ. You can find my CV here and email me at tue.trinh@ung.si.