LINGUIST List 13.2524

Thu Oct 3 2002

Calls: Lang Change, Afroasiatic Linguistics

Editor for this issue: Marie Klopfenstein <marielinguistlist.org>

Directory

1. Sten Vikner, "Language Change" for Nordic J Linguistics
2. Grover Hudson, NACAL announcement

 Call for papers: Special Issue on LANGUAGE CHANGE 
 -----------------================================
The second issue of vol. 26 (2003) of the NORDIC JOURNAL OF LINGUISTICS
will be a special issue devoted to LANGUAGE CHANGE, edited by Cecilia
Falk and Tomas Riad.

This topic ranges over a wide variety of questions of both empirical and
theoretical interest. Language change affects all linguistic domains:
phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, pragmatics, and the lexicon.
Within the history of the languages spoken in the Nordic countries, some
changes are well documented and well described, others less well so;
some changes are well attested across Germanic and beyond (development
of V2, quantity shift), others are rare and claimed to be exceptional
(e.g. suffixed definite article, development of tonal accents). Old as
well as new data can contribute to a better understanding of language
structure at different levels and the (possible) interaction between
different levels of language, synchronically as well as diachronically.

Other relevant questions concern the relation between language change on
the one hand and language acquisition, language contact, etc. on the
other. One much debated question concerns the possible triggers of
change: can one change trigger another change, or should two closely
related changes be seen as one (in some sense more abstract) change? To
what extent and in what sense is language change predictable? New data
and/or reinterpreted old data can shed new light on the supposed
mechanisms of change, such as reanalysis, analogy, grammaticalization,
sound shift, etc. Also, new theories and methodologies often recast the
old questions in a productive manner.

Another topic of interest is how language change is reflected
synchronically. What kind of data (historical or contemporary) can
reveal ongoing change? Vowel shifts have recently been investigated in
this manner, but what about e.g. syntactic change? To what extent can we
infer change in a certain direction from extant language variation at a
certain point in time? Indeed, can variation remain stable over time?

We invite papers which address these and other issues relating to the
theme. The deadline is January 31, 2003, and papers should be sent to
either of the two guest editors:

 Cecilia Falk
 Department of Scandinavian Languages
 University of Lund, Helgonabacken 14, 
 SE-223 62 Lund, Sweden
 Cecilia.Falknordlund.lu.se

 Tomas Riad
 Department of Scandinavian Languages
 University of Stockholm, Universitetsv�gen 10 D
 SE-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden
 Tomas.Riadnordiska.su.se

- --------------------------------------------------------
 Sten Vikner +45 8942 6522 (direct)
 Dept. of English +45 8942 6500 (secr.)
 University of Aarhus +45 8942 6540 (fax)
 DK-8000 Aarhus C engsvhum.au.dk
 DENMARK http://www.hum.au.dk/engelsk/engsv
- --------------------------------------------------------

Papers Are Invited
for the
31st
Annual Meeting of the
North American Conference on Afroasiatic Linguistics
 (NACAL)

April 4-6, 2003 (Friday thru Sunday morning) in

Nashville, TN

Papers are invited in all areas of Afroasiatic theoretical, descriptive,
historical, and comparative/typological linguistics:

To submit a paper (30-minute papers, with discussion), send a 
one-page abstract (400 words max.)
by Monday, January 6, 2003
by e-mail (as a Word attachment or as e-mail text) to hudsonmsu.edu
by fax to 517-432-2736, or
by postal mail to
Grover Hudson / NACAL
Program in Linguistics, Michigan State University
A625 Wells Hall, East Lansing, MI 48824-1027

The program will be announced by January 30, 2003

To register for the meeting, send your full contact information and
registration fee of $50 ($25 for students, unemployed, and those from
soft-currency countries) by March 1, 2003 to the address above.

The meeting will be at the
Courtyard by Marriott
170 4th Ave. North,
Nashville, TN 37219
615-256-0900
When reserving, mention 'NACAL' for the Conference rate ($109, single 
or double, +tax),

The downtown Nashville Courtyard by Marriott is three blocks from the 
April 4-7 American Oriental Society meeting (Doubletree Hotel) and a 
mile and a half from Vanderbilt University.

Up-to-date information about NACAL 31 will be maintained at 
http://www.msu.edu/~hudson/NACAL.htm

- 
Grover Hudson
Department of Linguistics & Germanic
 Slavic, Asian & African Languages
A625 WH, Michigan State University,
East Lansing, MI 48824-1027
phone 517-355-8471, fax 517-432-2736, e-mail hudsonmsu.edu
http://www.msu.edu/~hudson/