LINGUIST List 19.3514
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Tue Nov 18 2008
Calls: Anthro Ling,Hist Ling/Netherlands; Ling Theories/United Kingdom
Editor for this issue: Kate Wu
<kate linguistlist.org>
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Directory
1. Patrick
McConvell,
Kinship Terminologies: Change and Reconstruction
2. Glenda
Newton,
Theoretical Approaches to Disharmonic Word Orders
Message 1: Kinship Terminologies: Change and Reconstruction
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Date: 17-Nov-2008
From: Patrick McConvell <patrick.mcconvellanu.edu.au>
Subject: Kinship Terminologies: Change and Reconstruction
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Full Title: Kinship Terminologies: Change and Reconstruction
Short Title: Kinship Workshop
Date: 10-Aug-2009 - 15-Aug-2009
Location: Radboud University, Nijmegen, Netherlands
Contact Person: Patrick McConvell
Meeting Email: patrick.mcconvellanu.edu.au
Linguistic Field(s): Anthropological Linguistics; Historical Linguistics
Call Deadline: 15-Dec-2008
Meeting Description:
This is a call for preliminary expressions of interest in presenting a paper at
the Kinship workshop to be held as part of the XIXth International Conference on
Historical Linguistics.
Call for Papers
Study of kinship terminologies and systems has been one of the major joint
endeavours of comparative linguistics and the social sciences, especially
anthropology. Reconstruction of prehistoric systems has shed light on the form
of the societies of proto-language speakers and the changes leading to
present-day societies. In turn the systematic study of the typology of, and
constraints on, kinship systems in anthropology has assisted linguists in their
reconstruction work. While kinship, particularly diachronic kinship, has become
unfashionable in anthropology in the last 20-30 years, it is now experiencing a
renaissance, with new publications appearing often drawing on linguistic
evidence. There is also significant interest in history in documented kinship
changes in Europe and elsewhere, and this provides a more detailed source about
transitions in meanings and their motivations which can aid in reconstruction.
We are calling for papers on examples of reconstruction of proto-terminologies
in families and sub-groups; change in morphology, semantics and usage, and
borrowing of terms, whether based on prehistoric reconstructions or written
sources. Papers on theoretical and methodological issues, especially addressing
the interdisciplinary nature of this field, are also welcomed.
Please send your name and affiliation and a short indication of your area or
interest and/or the topic of a possible paper in the Kinship workshop to
Patrick.mcconvellanu.edu.au. This is simply so that the workshop organizers can
get an idea of who might be contributing, and so that we can keep those who have
been in touch informed of any developments. In due course there will be a formal
abstract submission process through the conference website but that is not
implemented yet.
Message 2: Theoretical Approaches to Disharmonic Word Orders
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Date: 17-Nov-2008
From: Glenda Newton <gen21cam.ac.uk>
Subject: Theoretical Approaches to Disharmonic Word Orders
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Full Title: Theoretical Approaches to Disharmonic Word Orders
Date: 30-May-2009 - 01-Jun-2009
Location: Newcastle, United Kingdom
Contact Person: Glenda Newton
Meeting Email: gen21cam.ac.uk
Web Site: http://research.ncl.ac.uk/linearization/index.php
Linguistic Field(s): Linguistic Theories; Syntax; Typology
Call Deadline: 01-Feb-2009
Meeting Description:
The aim of the conference is to bring together researchers working on
disharmonic (i.e. mixed head-initial and head-final) word orders from both
theoretical and empirical perspectives. The conference is funded by the AHRC
through the project 'Structure and Linearisation in Disharmonic Word Orders'
(AH/E009239/1)
Call for Papers
Theoretical Approaches to Disharmonic Word Orders
University of Newcastle
May 30th- June 1st 2009 (Please Note the Change in Date)
Invited speakers: Guglielmo Cinque (Venice), Matthew Dryer (SUNY Buffalo), Jim
Huang (Harvard), Richard Kayne (NYU)
One of the salient results of Greenberg's pioneering work in language typology
was the notion of a "harmonic" word-order type. Greenberg's work initiated a
research program, successful in many ways, of formulating inductive
cross-linguistic generalizations on the basis of comparison of languages sampled
so as to be representative of all the languages of the world. Although language
typology has contributed much to our understanding of comparative grammar, it
lacks formal, theoretical grounding. There have been numerous attempts, arguably
beginning with Hawkins (1983), to express Greenbergian generalisations,
including the notion of cross-categorial harmony, using the formal mechanisms of
Chomskyan theory, and thereby to integrate the two approaches. These have always
suffered from difficulties, however, in dealing with "mixed" or "disharmonic"
systems. This has created particular difficulties for principles-and-parameters
approaches to word-order typology, since these predict that, other things being
equal, any grammatical system must fall on one side or other of any
cross-linguistic dichotomy. As a result, certain basic questions concerning
word-order typology remain unanswered. Among the most important questions are
the following: since it seems that a single word-order parameter is too strong,
given the attested variation, are word-order parameters then to be stated for
each (lexical/functional) category, for classes of categories, or for all
categories subject to some defeasibility constraint? Is it then true that, in
fact, anything goes, beyond each category having to have a fixed internal order?
If not, what generalisations can be made aside from the simple observation that
most languages are tendentially head-initial or head-final? These are the
central themes this conference is intended to address.
Accordingly, we invite abstracts dealing with aspects of disharmonic word
orders. These include:
- evidence for or against given possible generalisations concerning subtypes of
harmony (e.g. clause-internal vs nominal-internal orders, etc);
- evidence for or against asymmetries in disharmonic orders;
- evidence for or against the role of historical or areal factors in determining
disharmonic orders, particularly the role of and limits on language contact;
- evidence for or against different surface triggers for word-order parameter
settings;
- evidence for or against limiting word-order variation to a specific subpart of
the grammar (functional heads, the lexicon, PF, etc.);
- evidence regarding the learnability of disharmonic parametric systems.
Papers may deal with these questions from any theoretical or empirical
standpoint, including, for instance language acquisition and language change.
Presentations will last one hour each (forty-five minutes for the presentation
followed by fifteen minutes for questions).
Abstract Submission Details:
Abstracts should not exceed two pages of A4, formatted with one-inch (2.5cm)
margins on all sides with text in 12-point type. Data and examples must be given
within the body of the text, but references may be included on an extra page if
necessary.
Please submit two versions of your abstract, one anonymous and one showing your
name and affiliation, in pdf format by e-mail to Glenda Newton (gen21cam.ac.uk)
Submission Deadline: February 1st 2009.
Notification of acceptance will be no later than April 1st 2009.
Speakers will be partially reimbursed for their expenses.
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