LINGUIST List 14.858

Mon Mar 24 2003

Calls: Indo-European, CA USA/Null Subjects, Iceland

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

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Directory

  • rjones, 15th Annual UCLA Indo-European Conference
  • whelpton, Conference on Null Subjects and Parametric Variation

    Message 1: 15th Annual UCLA Indo-European Conference

     Date: Fri, 21 Mar 2003 14:58:00 +0000
    From: rjones <rjonesucla.edu>
    Subject: 15th Annual UCLA Indo-European Conference


    The FIFTEENTH ANNUAL UCLA INDO-EUROPEAN CONFERENCE Short Title: UCLA IE CONFERENCE

    Date: 07-Nov-2003 - 08-Nov-2003 Location: LA, CA, United States of America Contact: Prof. Brent Vine Contact Email: vinehumnet.ucla.edu Meeting URL: http://www.humnet.ucla.edu/pies/

    Linguistic Sub-field: Writing Systems, Typology, Translation, Text/Corpus Linguistics, Syntax, Sociolinguistics, Semantics, Phonology, Phonetics, Philosophy of Language, Neurolinguistics, Morphology, Linguistic Theories, Ling & Literature, History of Linguistics, Historical Linguistics, Genetic Classification, General Linguistics, Anthropological Linguistics Subject Language: Indo-European

    Meeting Description: The FIFTEENTH ANNUAL UCLA INDO-EUROPEAN CONFERENCE

    will be held on NOVEMBER 7-8*, 2003, on the campus of the University of California at Los Angeles. We invite papers on any aspect of Indo-European studies: linguistics, archaeology, comparative mythology, culture. Papers on both interdisciplinary and specific topics (e.g., typology, methodology, reconstruction, the relation of Indo-European to other language groups, the interpretation of material culture, etc.) are welcome. A period of twenty minutes will be allotted for each paper, followed by a ten-minute discussion period. Abstracts** must be received by JUNE 30, 2003.

    * Depending upon the number of abstracts received and topics treated, the conference may be extended to NOVEMBER 9.

    ** We ask that those contemplating submission of an abstract please pay careful attention to the following guidelines:

    - Abstracts should be no more than 1-2 pages typewritten (about 700 words maximum). - Please attach a cover sheet, with your name, institutional affiliation, and accurate contact information (mailing address and e-mail address) for the summer and fall of 2003. - Abstracts should indicate the precise topic to be treated, the author's contribution to the problem, the relationship of the work to previous scholarship on the topic, and the author's specific conclusion and their relevance for the field of Indo-European Studies. - Only one abstract may be submitted per person. - If an abstract is accepted: the author must submit a revised abstract in an electronic format (e.g., Rich Text Format (RTF), Postscript (PS) or Portable Document Format (PDF), etc.) by OCTOBER 1, 2003 for publication on line; the final version of the paper must be read at the conference by the author of the abstract. (In the case of a co-authored abstract, the final version must be presented by one or more of the co-authors.)

    Address all abstracts and inquiries to:

    Indo-European Conference Committee UCLA Program in Indo-European Studies 100 Dodd Hall 405 Hilgard Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90095-1417

    e-mail: Prof. Brent Vine vinehumnet.ucla.edu fax: 1 (310) 206-1903

    For further information, please call the Program's main office at 1 (310) 825-4171 (weekdays, 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. US Pacific Time).

    Through the generosity of its donors, the Friends and Alumni of Indo-European Studies (FAIES) will offer a prize for the best paper by a current student or recent PhD (received 1998 or later). Please indicate your current status and year of PhD with your abstract if you qualify. At least one week prior to the conference, eligible presenters should contact:

    Dr. Karlene Jones-Bley 2143 Kelton Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90025

    e-mail: KJonesBleyaol.com

    For the most up-to-date information, visit the Program's website http://www.humnet.ucla.edu/pies/

    Message 2: Conference on Null Subjects and Parametric Variation

     Date: Mon, 24 Mar 2003 08:16:46 +0000
    From: whelpton <whelptonhi.is>
    Subject: Conference on Null Subjects and Parametric Variation


    conference on null subjects and parametric variation Short Title: Null Subjects

    Date: 18-Jul-2003 - 19-Jul-2003 Location: Reykjavik, Iceland Contact: Matthew Whelpton Contact Email: whelptonhi.is

    Linguistic Sub-field: Syntax Call Deadline: 27-Apr-2003

    Meeting Description:

    Abstracts are invited for a conference on null subjects and parametric variation at the University of Iceland, Reykjavik, July 18-19th 2003. The conference will be based around the work of the Cambridge-Durham Research Project on null subjects and parametric variation: a description of this project is given at the end of this announcement and papers are invited which can contribute to the discussion of issues raised within the project proposal.

    Members of the Research Project (invited speakers):

    Professor Anders Holmberg, University of Durham Professor Ian Roberts, University of Cambridge Dr. David Willis, University of Cambridge Dr. Theresa Biberauer, Post-Doctoral Research Assistant, University of Cambridge

    Papers and Abstracts

    As well as the lectures by the invited speakers and a discussion of relevant Icelandic data, there will be an open session for 45 minute papers (including 15 minutes for discussion). Abstracts should be no longer than 600 words (including examples and references) and should be submitted IN ELETRONIC FORMAT ONLY (txt, rtf, doc or pdf).

    Abstracts should be submitted in TWO versions. 1. The full abstract, including Title, Name, Affiliation, and main abstract text. 2. An anonymous abstract, including ONLY Title and main abstract text.

    Asbtracts should sent to:

    thordigihi.is [Thordis Gisladottir, Secretary to the Humanities Institute, University of Iceland]

    Abstracts must be received by 27th April 2003. As notice of this conference is relatively short, we will announce accepted papers by 2nd May.

    CAMBRIDGE-DURHAM PROJECT DESCRIPTION

    Project description (short version)

    The null-subject parameter will be investigated in order to establish whether the correlations that it has been claimed to account for can be explained in terms of parameter interaction. The aim is to develop a typology of linguistic correlations and a theory of parameter interaction.

    Project related advertisement (from Professor Anders Holmberg) The School of Linguistics and Language, University of Durham announces two PhD studentships fully funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Board (AHRB) for 3 years full time study beginning October 2003, to work on the project Null Subjects and the Structure of Parametric Theory. The AHRB restricts these awards to UK residents. The deadline for application is 31 March 2003. For further information, please contact Anders Holmberg, anders.holmbergdurham.ac.uk, phone 0191 3742640 (after 22 March: 0191 334 3005)

    Project description (long version)

    Research Context. If we follow Chomsky in postulating Universal Grammar (UG) as a solution to the logical problem of language acquisition, then we must provide an adequate account for the attested range of variation among grammatical systems. Over the past twenty years, this has been done by appealing to the notion of parameters of UG. Associated with some aspects of the invariant UG are parameters specifying a limited range of variation. For example, the hierarchical structure and categorical nature of lexical categories such as the Verb Phrase (VP) may be fixed by UG, while the ordering of the verb and its complements is a matter for parametric variation: this may account for the existence OV and VO languages.

    Research Questions. While it has often been observed that principles and parameters (P&P) model of comparative syntax offers a way of understanding typological correlations, the theory of parameters has not been subjected to the systematic and in-depth investigation it deserves. As a result, certain basic questions concerning the nature of parametric variation have not been adequately addressed. An important question concerns the matter of parameter interaction.

    It is standardly assumed that a given parameter setting may have effects in different parts of the grammar, and therefore be associated with a cluster of grammatical properties. Correspondingly, clustering of properties across languages is taken to be diagnostic of a parameter. However, to what extent the cluster of properties is actually realized in any given language depends on how other parameters are set. Ultimately the form of a given language is the result of the interaction of the entire set of parameters and principles of grammar. We envisage essentially two types of relations among parameters: (1) A parameter P is dependent on another parameter P. A special case of this relation (perhaps the only case) is when setting P to value V completely de-activates P. For example, in languages lacking infinitival embedded clauses, any parameter exclusively concerning properties of infinitives would be de-activated. Call this Linked Parameter interaction. (2) The setting of a parameter P to value V implies the setting of parameter P to V, not by virtue of any hierarchic relation between P and P, but because of the way they interact with the principles of grammar. Call this Independent Parameter interaction.

    Linked Parameter interaction is forced by UG and therefore the empirical correlations that it gives rise to, henceforth called Type I correlations, are exceptionless. Independent Parameter interaction yields empirical correlations which are exceptionless in grammars of a certain type (that is, as long as other parameter values are set alike), but need not hold in typologically more distant grammars. Call them Type II correlations.

    Type II correlations must be distinguished from correlations which are entirely fortuitous from the point of view of UG, resulting from (recent) language contact, henceforth Type III correlations. These have no universal generality, and are subject to fortuitous local exceptions. Our initial hypothesis is that all three types of correlations are found, each having the empirical status mentioned. Aims and objectives.

    The aim of this project is to develop the second-order typology of cross-linguistic correlations just sketched. This entails systematic work in two areas: first, on developing a clear picture of what implicational relations among parameters and parameter settings are conceivable; second, investigating very systematically the correlations that have been observed. We will pursue these two areas of investigation by focussing on one of the most controversial parameters, the null-subject parameter. We expect that our investigations will allow us to see which of the properties associated with this parameter are deeply linked, which only in certain types of systems, and which ' despite contingent local correlations ' are illusory. If we achieve this goal, we will have substantially deepened P&P theory, and gone a small way towards exploiting its potential.

    Research questions in more detail.

    The empirical issues associated with the null-subject parameter are fairly well known, yet remain badly understood. The language coverage is also relatively large, yet few langauges have been subject to detailed investigation. For this reason this domain represents an ideal testing ground for the questions concerning the nature of parametric variation outlined above.

    Examples of the empirical correlations we are interested in are the following, all of which are connected to the null-subject parameter:

    (i) The presence of referential null subjects correlates with free inversion, as originally proposed on the basis of Italian examples like (1) by Rizzi (1982): Ha telefonato Gianni. Gianni has phoned.

    This correlation holds in Standard Italian, numerous Italian dialects, Spanish and Greek, but it does not clearly hold in Portuguese, and Gilligan (1987) ' the only thorough cross-linguistic survey to date ' shows that it has little true cross-linguistic standing. It is therefore highly unlikely that this is a correlation of Type I, although it may be either a Type II or Type III case; we intend to determine which of these is correct. (ii) If a language has referential null subjects, it does not have overt referential expletives.

    It appears to hold in many Germanic and Romance languages, but the status of (ii) in Finnish and in Welsh needs close investigation. Again it seems unlikely, although not entirely impossible, that this is a correlation of Type I, but it could be either of Type II or Type III.

    (iii) If a language is verb-second, it does not freely allow referential null subjects.

    The only clearly attested verb-second languages which have referential null subjects at all are Old French, various Medieval Northern Italian dialects and some varieties of Rhaeto-Romansch. In these languages, null subjects are only found in verb-second clauses. However, the status of Middle Welsh and Modern Breton in this connection needs investigating. This correlation may, on the face of it, be of any of the types listed above. It is clear that the eventual conclusion on this point will have implications for our general understanding of verb-second phenomena, as well as of null subjects.

    (iv) Null-subject languages have rich agreement.

    This correlation appears to be spectacularly disconfirmed by the presence of null subjects (and objects) in many East Asian languages which are totally lacking in agreement inflections. However, it has been suggested (by Rizzi inte alia) that the East Asian facts represent a Type I correlation: The null subject parameter doesnt come into play in a language totally devoid of agreement morphology. There appear to be counterexamples to this correlation as well, though: Papiamentu has no agreement, yet does not allow null subjects (according to Gilligan). Furthermore, there are languages which have poor agreement, yet allow null subjects (Chamorro, Sao Tome Creole), and there are languages with apparently rich agreement which do not allow null subjects (Icelandic). But there is also striking support for the correlation, including languages which have agreement in parts of the verb paradigm, and allow null subjects just when the verb form agrees (Irish, Hebrew). A precondition for determining the type of the correlation is determining what constitutes richness of agreement.

    In this connection we need to also consider the typology of null arguments. It has been claimed that agreement, rather than licensing a null pronoun (as in Rizzis original theory), actually IS a pronominal argument. There are reasons to believe that both types of null argument constructions exist, and possibly other types. We need to investigate the possibility that correlation (iv), or any of the other correlations, holds universally, but only for a specific type of null subject construction.

    (v) If a language has null subjects, it has infinitive movement. Kayne (1991) establishes the validity of this generalisation for Romance languages. Its status in other families, particularly Germanic, is not clear, however. In these languages, infinitive-movement interacts in complex ways with restructuring/clause-union phenomena (see (vi)). Again, the issue for the typology of correlations given above is whether this is a Type II or a Type III correlation.

    (vi) If a language has restructuring/clause-union phenomena, it has null subjects. Again, this correlation holds fairly well across Romance, but appears to be entirely falsified in the West Germanic languages. Sophisticated analysis is required here, however, in order to determine the precise status of the cross-linguistic correlations, especially as (iii) may play a role in explaining why this correlation does not hold in German. English and North Germanic obey the correlation in being non-null-subject and lacking restructuring, while Celtic obeys the implication as stated, in that these languages are null-subject languages but lack restructuring.