# Gennaro Chierchia

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{{Short description|Italian linguist (born 1953)}}
{{use dmy|date=September 2025}}
{{Infobox academic
| name              = Gennaro Chierchia
| birth_date        = {{Birth date and age|1953|9|10|df=y}}
| birth_place       = [Rome](/source/Rome), Italy
| spouse            = Isa Orvieto
| children          = 3
| education         = [Sapienza University of Rome](/source/Sapienza_University_of_Rome)<br />[University of Massachusetts Amherst](/source/University_of_Massachusetts_Amherst)
| thesis_title      = Topics in the Syntax and Semantics of Infinitives and Gerunds
| thesis_url        = https://scholar.harvard.edu/chierchia/publications/topics-syntax-and-semantics-infinitives-and-gerunds
| thesis_year       = 1984
| doctoral_advisor  = [Barbara Partee](/source/Barbara_Partee)
| doctoral_students = [Maria Aloni](/source/Maria_Aloni)<br>[Veneeta Dayal](/source/Veneeta_Dayal)
| workplaces        = [Brown University](/source/Brown_University)<br>[Cornell University](/source/Cornell_University)<br>[University of Milan Bicocca](/source/University_of_Milan_Bicocca)<br>[University of Salerno](/source/University_of_Salerno)<br>[Harvard University](/source/Harvard_University)
| awards            = [Guggenheim Fellowship](/source/List_of_Guggenheim_Fellowships_awarded_in_2019) (2019)
| influences        = [Tullio De Mauro](/source/Tullio_De_Mauro)<br>[Sally McConnell-Ginet](/source/Sally_McConnell-Ginet)
}}

'''Gennaro Chierchia''' ({{IPA|it|dʒenˈnaːro ˈkjɛrkja}}; born 10 September 1953 in [Rome](/source/Rome)) is an Italian [linguist](/source/linguist) and [educator](/source/educator). Chierchia is currently the Haas Foundation Professor of Linguistics and Professor of Philosophy at [Harvard University](/source/Harvard_University). His work and study focus on areas including [semantics](/source/Formal_semantics_(natural_language)), [pragmatics](/source/Experimental_pragmatics), [philosophy of language](/source/philosophy_of_language), and [language pathology](/source/Speech-Language_Pathology).<ref>{{cite web |url=https://scholar.harvard.edu/chierchia/home |title=Gennaro Chierchia |author=<!--Not stated--> |publisher=Harvard University |access-date=17 February 2023 }}</ref>

==Career==
Born in [Rome](/source/Rome), Chierchia received his [Bachelor of Arts](/source/Bachelor_of_Arts) in [Philosophy](/source/Philosophy) from the [Sapienza University of Rome](/source/Sapienza_University_of_Rome) in 1977, when he studied under [Tullio De Mauro](/source/Tullio_De_Mauro). He then went on to earn a [Doctor of Philosophy](/source/Doctor_of_Philosophy) in [Linguistics](/source/Linguistics) at the [University of Massachusetts Amherst](/source/University_of_Massachusetts_Amherst) in 1984. His [dissertation](/source/dissertation), chaired by [Barbara Partee](/source/Barbara_Partee), was titled "Topics in the Syntax and Semantics of Infinitives and Gerunds."<ref>{{cite journal |last=Partee |first=Barbara H. |date=5 October 2013 |title=Portrait of a Semanticist as a Young Man: Gennaro Chierchia, 1979–1988 |url=https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139519328.003 |journal=From Grammar to Meaning: The Spontaneous Logicality of Language |volume= |issue= |pages=13–37 |doi= 10.1017/CBO9781139519328.003|isbn=978-1-139-51932-8 |access-date=17 February 2023 |url-status= |archive-url= |archive-date=|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

Chierchia began his professorial career when he served as Assistant Professor of Linguistics at [Brown University](/source/Brown_University) from 1983 to 1985. He then continued in the same role at [Cornell University](/source/Cornell_University) from 1985 to 1992, before moving back to his native [Italy](/source/Italy). From 1992 to 2000, Chierchia taught as a full professor at the [University of Milan Bicocca](/source/University_of_Milan_Bicocca), including a year at the [University of Salerno](/source/University_of_Salerno) from 1994 to 1995. Since 2006, he has taught at [Harvard University](/source/Harvard_University) as the Haas Foundations Professor of Linguistics and Professor of Philosophy.

In 2014, Chierchia was named as Fellow of the [Linguistic Society of America](/source/List_of_Fellows_of_the_Linguistic_Society_of_America). In 2019, he was awarded a [Guggenheim Fellowship](/source/List_of_Guggenheim_Fellowships_awarded_in_2019).<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.gf.org/fellows/gennaro-chierchia/ |title=Gennaro Chierchia |author=<!--Not stated--> |publisher=John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation |access-date=17 February 2023 }}</ref>

==Works==
*''Meaning and Grammar: An Introduction to Semantics'', 1990. {{ISBN|978-0262531641}}
*''Dynamics of Meaning: Anaphora, Presupposition, and the Theory of Grammar'', 1995. {{ISBN|0-226-10435-4}}
*''Logic in Grammar: Polarity, Free Choice, and Intervention'', 2013. {{ISBN|978-0199697984}}

==See also==
*[List of Fellows of the Linguistic Society of America](/source/List_of_Fellows_of_the_Linguistic_Society_of_America)
*[List of Guggenheim Fellowships awarded in 2019](/source/List_of_Guggenheim_Fellowships_awarded_in_2019)
*[List of Harvard University people](/source/List_of_Harvard_University_people)
*[List of University of Massachusetts Amherst alumni](/source/List_of_University_of_Massachusetts_Amherst_alumni)

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://linguistics.fas.harvard.edu/people/gennaro-chierchia Harvard University profile]
*[http://www.psicologia.unimib.it/03_persone/scheda_personale.php?personId=9 University of Milan profile] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306025645/http://www.psicologia.unimib.it/03_persone/scheda_personale.php?personId=9 |date=2016-03-06 }}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chierchia, Gennaro}}
Category:1953 births
Category:Living people
Category:Writers from Rome
Category:Sapienza University of Rome alumni
Category:University of Massachusetts Amherst College of Humanities and Fine Arts alumni
Category:Linguists from Italy
Category:Semanticists
Category:Academic staff of the University of Milan
Category:Academic staff of the University of Salerno
Category:Brown University faculty
Category:Cornell University faculty
Category:Harvard University Department of Philosophy faculty
Category:Fellows of the Linguistic Society of America

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Gennaro Chierchia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gennaro_Chierchia) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gennaro_Chierchia?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.