Expertise

Fields of interest:

  • Morphology and syntax of German
  • Language variation and change
  • Medieval Germanic languages and philology

My research investigates grammatical change in the medieval and modern Germanic languages, and for this work I employ large corpora of historical texts, informed by linguistic theory and statistical methods.

My work investigated word-order variation in these clusters from Old High German to the modern dialects and Standard German, concluding that the changes in question are best treated as resettings of micro-parameters.

Another major project involved collaboration with Dorian Roehrs at the University of North Texas. We investigated changes to constructions involving indefinite pronouns that occur with an adjective, which have changed over time from genitive to showing agreement (etwas Gutes, niemand anderer, etc.) We traced these constructions through the entire history of German, and also investigated equivalent structures in related languages.

My most recent research area began with a study of changes to relative clauses in the history of Old Norse. I established that what appears to be a demonstrative pronoun (sá) is actually a relative pronoun, which emerges in the Viking Age but quickly declines during the flourishing of Old Norse literature.

My primary field of research is the historical syntax and morphology of the Germanic langauges.  I am also interested in modern German linguistics, the older Germanic languages and literatures, language acquisition and pedagogy, contemporary Germany and Austria, and Scandinavian studies. 

Current projects:

  • An introduction to German Linguistics textbook, written in German for non-native speakers
  • Relative pronouns in the history of Icelandic
  • Dating the Old Norse poetic corpus on morpho-syntactic criteria
  • German-language islands in Latin America

His research specialization is the historical morphology and syntax of German, but he has also investigated language acquisition and Scandinavian linguistics. In addition to Inst 213 German News Coverage at the Croft Institute, Dr. Sapp teaches courses in the fields of German language and culture, German linguistics, and general linguistics in the Department of Modern Languages.  

Past Affiliations

Associate Professor, Linguistics Program, Department of Modern Languages, College of Liberal Arts, University of Mississippi (past)

Professor, German Program, Department of Modern Languages, College of Liberal Arts, University of Mississippi (past)

Associate Professor, German Program, Department of Modern Languages, College of Liberal Arts, University of Mississippi (past)

Associate Faculty, Croft Institute for International Studies, College of Liberal Arts, University of Mississippi (past)

Assistant Professor, Linguistics, Department of Modern Languages, College of Liberal Arts, University of Mississippi (past)

Assistant Professor, German, Department of Modern Languages, College of Liberal Arts, University of Mississippi (past)

Associate Assistant Professor, Croft Institute for International Studies, College of Liberal Arts, University of Mississippi (past)

Communities
International Studies, German, Linguistics
Degrees
PhD, University of Indiana , Germanic Linguistics and Philology, 2006
MA, University of Indiana , Germanic Studies , 2000
BA, Austin College, German with Linguistics, 1996
Keywords
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Languages
German, German, Middle High, German, Old High, Norwegian, Old Icelandic, Spanish
Honors

William J. Fulbright Student Grant (Verb Order in Subordinate Clauses from Early New High German to Modern German), U.S. Dept. of State (University of Vienna), 2005-2006

Associations
American Association of Teachers of German
Society of Germanic Linguistics