His involvement with cognitive linguistics dates from the 1980s, when in his PhD thesis he was one of the first in Europe to explore the possibilities of a prototype-theoretical model of categorization.
He also argues for the involvement of more pragmatic elements such as contextual factors, lectal variation, and language history that influence the construal of word meanings and the choice of lexical items for concepts.
His publications include the following monographs: He is a member of the Koninklijke Academie voor Nederlandse Taal en Letteren (KANTL) and the Academia Europaea.
His 60th birthday was celebrated by the publication of Change of Paradigms-New Paradoxes (J. Daems et al. 2015, De Gruyter Mouton).
His retirement saw the publication of a special issue of the journal Nederlandse Taalkunde (2022:2), and another Festschrift: G. Kristiansen et al. 2021, Cognitive Sociolinguistics Revisited (De Gruyter Mouton).